RWBY: Crimson Phantasm
by raidouXVI
Summary: After a gruesome battle with a formidable foe, a swordsman gets into an accident that sends him onto another world. Now, not only having the problems of having to look for his parents who went missing since childhood, he now has to find a way back to his own world, too! However, it seems that this new world isn't letting him go...
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note: Hello there, dear readers! Welcome to BlazBlue: Azure Spiral, the remake to my previous RWBY x BlazBlue X-over fanfic. Notably, there will be multiple changes on the fic this time around, such as:**_

_**-Some new story elements are taken from other animes and videogames, in the form of skills and energy mechanics. The RWBY verse, however, will retain all of its original mechanics concerning their magic/skills, and as well as story.**_

_**-New OC's.**_

_**-MORE BlazBlue characters this time around.**_

_**-Cameos by characters from other animes/videogames are also to be expected. Sometimes.**_

_**Other changes are to be mentioned at future author's notes.**_

_**Well then, let's start the story!**_

_**RWBY: Crimson Phantasm Prologue - "A new world…and the wheel of fate turns once more…"**_

* * *

_-Music Cue: "Decisive Battle" from Super Robot Wars Z3: Jigoku-Hen-_

A mighty, monstrous roar invaded the premises of the Grave Marker of Bases, which is currently a battleground in the fight between 3 warriors and an abomination of nature…

"Eat this, ya freak of nature! _Azure Fang!_"

One of the warriors roared as blue colored flames wrapped around his sword, and swings it downwards, sending a large azure colored projectile wave towards the large abomination before him. The attack connects and explodes, sending dust all over. However, as it cleared, the targeted monster appeared unharmed at all. Its black armor still shined, showing not a single scratch. The monster itself is a gigantic humanoid being, its height reaching several stories. It had thin, long armored human arms and a pair of muscular humanoid armored legs. Its head is oddly shaped, looking like a helmeted human with an exaggerated chin…With its mouth wide open and its humanoid teeth drenched in blood and bits of crushed flesh…

"You've gotta be kidding me! After all that and it ain't even scratched?!" The first warrior complained in frustration…

The said warrior has pale skin to go with his silver hair, has a pair of crimson eyes, wears a vibrant black sleeved jacket with two long thin red tails hanging from the back, He wears a pair of black gloves with a black shell on the backs of the hands. He also wears a black hakama held by two large red belts and steel-toed red boots. He also sports a giant sword with a giant slab of black metal resembling a blade, which he used to send off the azure colored projectile from earlier…

"It is because the enemy is an Anti-Magic Artes type Bio Organic Weapon, or an Anti-Artes B.O.W. in short. Its armor generates a time-space force field, whose function is to rewind the time of anything or anyone in that force field empowered by a 'core', which includes the damages we deal to it from earlier. Which is why we were given orders to hold it out until Hakumen is ready enough to fully destroy the chest-plate of the armor, where the B.O.W.'s core lies." A deep voice resounds from beside the silver-haired warrior.

The source of the voice appears to be a large, mechanical man, who sighs out of frustration at his comrade's disobedience. He has spiky black hair, possessing a white streak. He wears orange goggles without reflection that show his eyes. He wears a dark red-colored uniform, but with a sleeveless top. He has golden rods attached on the darker red-cross on his back, and two black gauntlets made of complex machinery.

"Yeah, yeah, I get that gramps. I was just testing myself against that…thing. But seriously? Time rewinding? That's cheap! And where the hell did Shinra Electronics get that?! 'Electronics' my ass! That thing's made of flesh, and bones!"

"Which is why we were ordered to distract it, not attack it continuously. And don't call me gramps. Call me Tager." The mechanical man who calls himself Tager says to Albel, who just shrugs.

"The red devil is right, _beast spawn. _Lest you want to die a meaningless death. And blind idiocy being one of the ways to make that possible." Another deep voice resounds from behind Tager and Albel.

He wears semi-heavy white armor and a muscular body suit with a large collar and the traditional hakama present, ballooning pants common in samurai. His long silver hair is tied at the mane. All armored sections feature fully-functional crimson eyes with slit pupils. These eyes are not as much of an intimidation as much as the mask he wears; a completely white, two horned helmet with no features or visor, appearing to have no face at all, a feature that makes Albel cringe, as the silver haired warrior is seriously creeped out by the talking faceless swordsman.

"…_If it wasn't for the fact that this guy is a champion at the creepy people department, I'd be happily talking back right now. Nothing's creepier than a faceless head talking to you…and can chop off 10 storey buildings in four, too. Now THAT'S what I call ugly. In more ways than one._" A sweat rolls down on Albel's right cheek as he replies, "…Got it, leader."

"Hmph, at least you know when to cooperate properly. Unlike certain people I know…" passing through between Albel and Tager, Hakumen enters a battle stance, with the tip of his sword pointed towards the large B.O.W., "Allow me to end your suffering, creature, and let me to return you to the earth!"

"Albel, ready 'that', now!" Tager loudly shouts, prompting Albel to bring up his right hand, and starts to declare…

"**_Restriction 666 released!"_** A surge of power runs throughout Albel's body as the shell on both his hands opened, revealing an azure colored light. "**_Dimensional Interference Force field, deployed!_**" Two insignias appeared, one above Albel, and one below him. Both are azure in color. "**_Accessing X-Blaze: Chromatus._**" White colored bolts of lightning dances around Albel's body as another surge of power courses through his body. "**_Blazblue, Activate!_**" The two insignias explode into azure colored flames, which then wraps and dances around Albel's body…

Meanwhile, white mist generates around Hakumen as he begins to chant, "Like the surface of water…I calm my mind…Let this become mine blade…"

As Hakumen was proceeding with his chant, the gigantic humanoid B.O.W. suddenly prepares its right armored fist to attack, however…

"_Hands off_, buddy! _Calamity Blade_!" Albel raises his right hand as he shouted, summoning a large portal right in front of the B.O.W.'s readied hand. A gigantic sword then launches out of the portal, hitting the gigantic monster's armored hand, causing it to go off the original trajectory of its attempted attack…

"Let evil be perished! Empty Sky Form…" Hakumen continues, earning him a surprised look from the gigantic humanoid monster…

Feeling the danger of the faceless swordsman's attack, the B.O.W. desperately attempts to hit Hakumen with its left hand, however…

…Tager quickly places himself between the B.O.W.'s fist and Hakumen, as the large gauntlet on Tager's arms suddenly opens up, summoning green colored volts of lightning, which then danced on the red devil's arms as he prepares his right hand to attack, anticipating the timing of the B.O.W.'s left hand…

"Tera…" Tager slowly muttered as the B.O.W.'s left armored fist slowly launched itself towards him, "…BRRRREEEEAAAAAKKKK!" Tager roared as the green bolts of lightning surged at his right hand, and strikes the B.O.W.'s own fist with perfect timing and precision, causing the gigantic humanoid monster's attack to be pushed back, and Tager not moving an inch from where he landed his attack earlier. The impact of the two attacks caused a small explosion of air, causing dust to fly wildly around the place…

"…Time Killer!" A flash of white occurs all over the area right after Hakumen muttered the word, and in a second after that…

…B.O.W.'s armor started to fall, piece by piece, and within moments, all of the B.O.W.'s armor has fallen to the ground. The armored monstrosity from earlier is now revealed to look like a gigantic, skinless human, down right to the shape of muscles. And on its chest, is implanted a shining, round red orb, which is held tight by multiple veins…

"_Beast spawn, _do it _now!_" Hakumens yells at the top of his lungs, signaling the silver-haired warrior to end the fight…

"Okay!" Albel replied, before raising his right hand before him, "_Piercing through all points of dimensions! Akisazame!_" Albel roars, summoning a giant red portal in front of him, which then launches crimson colored broadswords at the red colored core of the B.O.W., making gory sound of flesh pierced by blades as the broad swords rained on the monster's core.

The portal in front of Albel then closes up, before another one opens in the same place, this time only five times bigger than the last portal.

"This is it!" Albel roars, as a ridiculously large sword is summoned out of the newly called portal, and the sword is then launched with powerful force towards the B.O.W.'s already wounded core, piercing the gigantic monster's core and goes right straight through the spine of the abomination, before fading into golden light…

The humanoid B.O.W. lets out one last dying scream, before finally falling to the ground face first with a loud crash, which then sends a great deal of dust around the area…

_-BGM Fades-_

"All's well that ends well! Good job everybody!" Albel loudly states as the dust cleared, with the silver haired warrior now having deactivated his BlazBlue, as evidenced by the lack of dancing flames around his body, as well as the 'burning air' around his presence. "Time for some big, juicy steak sunk in a heap of sweet, tasty barbeque sauce! Courtesy of Sector Seven's payment credits, of course!"

"I should proceed to my maintenance as well." Tager declares, before turning his attention to Hakumen, "How about you, Hakumen?"

"I have little to no time for a rest, red devil." Hakumen sternly declares as he sheathes his ridiculously long sword, "Shinra Electronics and their abominations are still at large. Until I purge them all from the face of this world, I will not rest." Clenching his fist as he declared that, the faceless swordsman proceeds to turn his back unto his companions, and starts to walk away…

"Well, you gotta admire him for being dedicated, that's for sure. Isn't that right, gramps? Oh, and can you call the professor? I'm pretty sure she'll be happy to teleport us back to the lab…"

"…Don't call me gramps. *Sigh* Very well, I'll call for Kokonoe. Just give me a minute…"

Tager then proceeds to place his right hand near his head, as a beep made itself known to the red devil's hearing, which is followed by Kokonoe's voice…

"Tager, reporting in. Incapacitation of B.O.W. has been successful. However, Hakumen left as soon as the operation was complete…"

While Tager was busy with his report to Kokonoe, Albel decides to inspect the dead body of the B.O.W., taking interest specifically on the glowing insignia on the gigantic creature's head…

"Holy shit…The whole head is already the size of a freaking bus! If this thing was edible, then even just the entire head here can last for a 1 month supply for a small town. Now that I think about it…" Albel turns his back on the dead B.O.W., while putting a hand on his chin, "Why don't just Shinra Electronics make oversized dairy animals? They could have been a serious help to society if they focused on doing something actually helpful instead…*Sigh* People these days…"

However, unbeknownst to Albel's knowledge, the hand of the supposedly dead B.O.W. twitched, with the insignia on its forehead now shining brightly…

"Yes, Kokonoe, we would like to request to be transported via teleportation towards the base after dissecting the Bio Organic Wea-…?!" Tager cuts himself as he sees the glowing B.O.W. behind Albel, who doesn't even notice anything as he is deep in thought…

"Albel, behind you!"

Tager's shout shook off Albel from his train of thought, and causing him to actually look behind him. What greeted him was the sight of the glowing B.O.W., which is now sporting a creepy looking Cheshire cat smile on its face…

…before giving a one last dying scream, this time with black colored energy coming out of its body, which then condenses into a large black hole in the air...which in turn, appears to suck and the distort the dimension around it…and everything else in that dimension, including the now dead B.O.W., and Albel…

"What in the hell?! Even the dimension around it?! That's ridiculous!" Despite his best efforts, Albel slowly feels the presence of the black hole coming closer, and closer…

The silver haired warrior then proceeds to look at his companion, Tager, and shouts, "Tager, get the hell outta here! Someone must personally tell the professor about this! And it obviously ain't me! _GO!_"

Tager could only nod wordlessly, and quickly leaves the area. However, as he flew his way out, Tager mutters, "I'll make sure I succeed in doing so…but…" The red devil proceeds to look back at the area where he left Albel, and continues, "…Don't die on your way back."

Meanwhile, Albel looks at the black hole from behind him, which doesn't seem to get bigger, but sucks everything around it with a great, vacuum like force. Knowing that there's no escape, Albel could only whisper to himself, "I don't know if I'll live after this, and I don't plan on doing so either, not before I find mom and dad. I guess I have no choice…I'll have to gamble!" Albel slowly lets go of his grip, "…Sorry about this, auntie Celica, but…" A soft look makes it unto Albel's usually heated face as he spoke, "…I won't be back for dinner for a while!"

With those words, Albel lets go of the ground, and submits himself towards the force of the black hole!

"_LEEROY JENKINS!_"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Vale…

More specifically, just inside a dark alley behind a shop name "7th Heaven".

A black hole, around the size of a manhole, suddenly opened up, but instead of sucking up the dimensions around it, the medium sized black hole did otherwise, blowing away strong wind from inside it for a few seconds…

…before spitting out a certain white haired swordsman, throwing him face first to the ground.

"Gah! My spleen…Ohh…" Albel groaned as he gets up, while rubbing his back out of pain. After a few seconds of rubbing all of his pained body parts, Albel takes the time to observe the place he's in…

"_A…dark alley? But I thought I was…wait, that's right!_" Deep in thought, Albel slowly walks out of the alley, comprehending what just actually happened beforehand, "_…I was sucked in by that black hole…but…I'm not dead, or even wounded. Instead, I probably got thrown somewhere else…And it's a little too dark, too._" As soon as he got out of the alley, Albel is greeted by the sight of a road in between multiple buildings, with each one having a closed shop on the first floor. Albel takes a look at the darkened sky, and sees a full moon, along with multiple stars…

"_It's nighttime, huh? I have no watches on me either, nor a cellphone, so I have no proper perception of time, other than knowing that it's around nighttime. So much for being a B.O.W. Extermination Squad Leader…_" Scratching his head, Albel then proceeds to walk around the shops, in hopes of at least finding one opened shop, "_Alright, first things first: Find a local to ask WHERE THE HELL AM I?!_"

* * *

"Ooh…Someone help me…I'm really hungry…" Albel complained as he kept on walking for the past hour. It seems that no matter where he went, there were no open shops. "_And here I was, hoping for at least a convenience store around here somewhere!_"

After a few more walks, Albel felt like giving up, but as he raised his head, his eyesight was greeted by light from afar, coming from what might appear to be an open shop… "Huh? Is that…? It…it can't be…" Albel could not contain his excitement as he quickly rushes over the source of light. As he came closer, it is then indeed confirmed to him that the source of light is indeed an open shop…

"It's CIVILIZATION! Woohoo! Yeah!" Albel rushes into the shop named 'From Dust till Dawn'…

* * *

Albel enters the shop, his consciousness now slowly slipping away, out of hunger…

"Ah, welcome! How may I help…you?" A voice hesitantly greets Albel. The owner of the voice appears to be an elderly and balding, gray-haired man with wrinkles under his eyes and over his brow. Typically, he wears a green shirt with a red apron and gray pants. From the look of the old man's face, he seems aware of Albel's condition as soon as the shopkeeper saw the silver haired swordsman…

"Ah…hello there…" Albel barely could talk, as half of his consciousness is now gone, "…Need food…You have…some?" Right after muttering those words, Albel fell on his back to the ground, unconscious. The large sword hanging on his back makes a loud sound on impact as a result.

"Oh dear…" The old shopkeeper attempts to rush himself from his counter, his age not stopping his will to help the hunger driven silver haired swordsman. When he got near Albel, however…

"Ugh! Urk! My back…" As the old man tried to bend over, his back pains suddenly awakened, preventing the old man from bending over to lift the unconscious swordsman…

"Oh boy…what am I going to do? This age of mine really isn't of the tolerant kind it seems…" The shopkeeper decided to find a way to at least drag Albel into a comfortable spot, however, his train of thought gets interrupted when the door of his shop opened, revealing a girl with a red hood on…

"Oh…right!" An idea pops up in the old shopkeeper's head as he waves to the girl in red at the entrance of his shop…

* * *

Albel slowly opens his eyes as he woke up…

…And found himself on a bed inside a place he does not recognize. In front of him is a tv placed on a table with a machine resembling an air conditioner implanted on the wall above it, on his right is a table before an open window, and to his left is a closed door, with his sword lying in rest beside the said door…

"Ohh…what a good smell…" Albel commented as he suddenly gets a familiar scent unto his nose, in which the source appears to be a bowl of soup along with a glass and pitcher of water on the table on the right side of the bed he's in. Without further ado, Albel grabs the bowl of soup…

"Well then…don't mind if I do! Gotta thank that old man for this!"

As Albel began to devour the food, he also took time to take glances at the window near his right…where a familiar sight greeted him…

"Looking at that road down there, I guess I'm in a room somewhere above the entrance…and oh, are those customers?" Albel comments as he sees a group of men in suits enter towards the opening of the shop below Albel's room…

"They sure look fancy for midnight shopping…"

* * *

"Thank you for your help, young lady. As payment, please feel free to take one object for free of your own liking!" The old shopkeeper happily declares, while the girl in red in front of him just shakes her head. After helping the old man carry some knocked out stranger (_whom the girl believed to be a hunter after seeing his weapon),_ the old shopkeeper decided to give a reward to her…

"No, no, it's okay. I'll just…read something over there!" The girl in red, now with her hood down, declares.

She appears as a young, silver-eyed girl dressed in a black blouse and a skirt with red trimmings, complete with a red cloak. She has cross-shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt. Around her waist is a belt which holds large cartridges in individual loops, as well as a magazine pouch.

"If you say so. Suit yourself, young lady. Oh, and by the way, what is your name? I should at least have a name to tell that hungry man for him to thank…" The shopkeeper asks, eliciting him a reply from the girl in red.

"I'm Ruby. As in, Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you, sir…?"

"I'm Flint Westwood. Nice too meet you, Ms. Rose!" The old shopkeeper replies…

_-A few minutes later-_

Ruby, now with a pair of headphones on her head, reads a weapons magazine, while her headphones are blaring loud with music. She had a light smile on her face as she enjoys her 'quality alone time', as she puts it…

…That is, until she felt someone pat at her right shoulder.

"Huh?" Ruby pulls down her hood and turns back, only to find a man wearing a black suit, orange glasses, a black hat, and is carrying a sword gesturing to Ruby to remove her headphones, which she promptly does.

"Yes?" Ruby asks in curiousity, making the man in black reply in a rather irritated tone.

"I said, hands in the air!"

"Are you…robbing me?" Ruby asks in a rather wary tone, eliciting another irritated answer from the suited thug.

"Oh right, I'm pointing a sword at your face, and telling you put your hands in the air, and you wanna know if I'm robbing you? Of course I do! Now put those goddamn in the air!" The suited thug loudly declares, unaware of the mistake of his declaration.

Ruby could only give off an unamused answer to that, "Ahh…okay."

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the counter of From Dust till Dawn…_

Standing in front of the counter is a man with slanted dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He wears a black bowler hat with a red band, and has black eyeliner.

Noticeably, he has extremely long eyelashes. He also wears a red-collared white suit and a small gray scarf. He has black gloves with rounded sleeves, as well as long black pants and black shoes.

"Ahh…this is the life!" Roman Torchwick has never gotten things this easily. To think that he'd actually find a dust shop that runs 24/7…looks like his next week's worth of dinner will be steak. Now then, if only things were to remain this easy…

"Hiyah!"

A high pitched voice rang as Torchwick saw one of his men flying up the air straight into the wall. However, he remained unfazed, and simply gestured to another thug to get the job done…

"Hmph. Must be just some amateur vigilante-"

Torchwick didn't get to finish as he observed another one of his men being tackled in mid-air towards the windows by a red flash. The flash then breaks out the window with the thug, leaving the latter to roll onto the ground unconscious, while the former appeared to be a girl in red…

Without wasting a moment, Ruby draws out her weapon, a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe she calls Crescent Rose, and spins it around as she brandishes it, before stabbing its tip unto the ground, while striking a provoking pose to the thugs…

"Go on. Get her." Roman ordered his men, making the latter run out of the shop to fight Ruby, who just readied herself…

But just as the three thugs fully stepped out of the shop, a man's voice rang from above, complete with a black flash descending at high speeds, much to Ruby's surprise…

"_Paradigm Switch: Soul Eater_! _Belial Impact!_"

The descending black flash suddenly got wrapped in a coat of black and red flames, before landing and causing an impact with great force to the ground where the three thugs stood, creating an explosion of black and red flames which sent the three thugs flying. The ground from around the area where the flash landed also cracked, with some of the pieces of the ground and dust flying all over.

Without wasting time, Torchwick quickly aims his 'cane' diagonally up in the air, after which it fired a small ball of light up to the sky. After reaching that height, the ball of light exploded into a colorful display of flames…

Meanwhile, the dust in front of the shop clears, revealing a silver haired boy appearing to be not much older than Ruby, carrying a large slab of black colored metal that looked like a sword…

The said boy sees the display of lights that Torchwick just fired, which made the boy exclaim, "That light…That was a signal flare!"

"Congratulations, black. You may pass the nursery level studies at the nearest combat school for this year, for knowing that I just fired off a signal flare." Torchwick states in an irritated manner, albeit a subtle one.

"You know, we just met and I won't miss you already." The silver haired boy then points his slab of metal towards Torchwick, "…Although I wouldn't really mind giving you a 'getting to know you' greeting…Like, you know, the '_I'm going to beat you down and then pick you up to sock you_' kind…"

"Ohohoho, I admit I like the way you want to greet me, and I wouldn't mind trying it out but…It seems that you won't be the one doing the socking, black." As Torchwick declared that, multiple suited thugs appeared out of nowhere, outnumbering the silver haired boy and Ruby by a two against seven.

"Looks like we're surrounded…" Ruby declared as she places herself in a back to back formation with the silver haired boy, who replies.

"No shit." The boy then brandishes his weapon, taking up a battle stance, "Well, since we're gonna be together in this for a short while, mind telling me your name? Mine's Albel Bloodedge." The silver haired boy states, earning him an answer from Ruby.

"I'm Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you!"

"Okay then Ruby, you ready?" Albel asks, as the suited thugs slowly approached the duo…

"I'm always ready!" Ruby replies as she also enters her battle stance, readying Crescent Rose…

"Well then…Let's go!"

Without hesitation and with weapon in hand, the two red and black clad warriors sparks the flames of battle!

* * *

_**Woah! And Prologue's done! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Albel's first battle in Remnant on the next chapter! With Ruby's action goodness in tow, of course! **_

_**Please tell me what you think in the reviews section! Constructive criticisms are accepted with open arms!**_


	2. Albel's Bizarre Adventures

_**Author's Notes: Greetings, everyone. It's been a while since the last update, thanks to my busy real life sched. I even got lucky enough to have spare time for writing these days. **_

_**Another thing is concerning the 'story routes' of the fic, but, we'll discuss that later.**_

_**Let's start the story, shall we?**_

_**RWBY: Crimson Phantasm Chapter 1: "Albel's Bizarre Adventures…"**_

* * *

_-Music Cue: "Bloody Stream" from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency-_

On the street in the front of the dust shop named 'From Dusk till Dawn', stood a circle of men in black suits, all armed with a sword. In the center of the said circle, are two people, namely, Albel Bloodedge, the squad leader of the _Jaegers_, a squad of Sector Seven specializing in the extermination of Bio Organic Weapons, or B.O.W. in short. Loves to cook, read manga, and sleep. Recently, he's been a constant offender of sleeping on the job. Currently in a place he doesn't know, surrounded by mooks in black suits. With swords.

The second person is known by the name of Ruby Rose, a student of Signal Academy, a combat school found in Vale City, and an aspiring huntress. She loves cookies and weapons above all else. With her personally customized High Caliber Sniper Scythe, _Cresccent Rose _in hand, she is now ready to take on the evils of the world! She has been drinking a lot of milk, just for this very moment. Currently in an odd, but dangerous situation after helping out an old man and a hungry Albel. It's not like she really minds, though. She gets to _beat bad people _after all.

"Well, this isn't exactly the first time I fought guys in suits…Although I do remember them carrying all sorts of laser guns last and all that '_advanced alien technology_' crap last time…" Albel commented as a man in a black suit carrying a medium length sword rushed towards him, attempting to hit a forward thrust. Albel quickly responds with a slight dodge to the side, causing the attack to miss. With the man in black suit wide open for a split second, Albel takes the opportunity to land a fast, powerful uppercut, sending the foe high into the air.

Another foe rushes towards the swordsman, only to be sent flying backwards with a powerful roundhouse kick from Albel. Two more men in black suits assault Albel at fast speed, wherein one of them quickly executes a descending diagonal slash towards Albel, who quickly responds with a sidestep to his left, followed by a powerful axe kick to the man in black suit. Due to the force of the said kick, the ground cracked as the man in black suit's face crashed to the ground.

After taking three down, Albel then focuses on the last mook left. However, before the silver headed swordsman could do anything, the last of the man in black suits drops his sword, raises his hands up, and declares, "Whoa, man, I surrender! I swear, they're all weird!"

Albel could only scratch his head, before sighing. Locking his eyes onto the man in black suit, Albel then proceeds to issue an order, "If you actually intend to surrender, then listen to what I will say…Because if you won't, time to start planning for your funeral arrangement!" Albel declares in a loud, commanding manner of voice, causing the suited man in front of him to wince before replying.

"Y-yes sir!"

Albel pops an evil looking smirk on his face before replying, "First, turn your back on my direction…"

The man in black suit quickly complies, and does exactly what Albel told him. Right after that, Albel issues another command…

"Alright, now…Bring me a bowl of Soba! And a bottle of iced tea, too! And use your weekly allowance that your parents sent you!"

The man in black suit tilted his head in confusion, and hesitated. He then proceeds to question the said order, "Um, sir, could you repeat that again?"

A vein plopped on Albel's forehead, "Are you deaf or just an idiot, Ogushi?! I just ordered you to buy me a damn soba and a bottled iced tea! And buy a JUMP manga on the way while you're at it!" Albel shouted as he pointed his large sword at the trembling suited mook, who only got more confused as he retorted.

"Huh?! Who are you calling Ogushi?! That's not my name! And I don't even have a weekly allowance! I'm just one of those random, unemployed, and gamble loving **M**iddle **A**ged **D**umb **A**ss **O**ldies who wanted to make money without working hard for it! I'm just a _pachinko _loving MADAO!"

"…You should blame your life choices for that, you good-for-nothing dumbass! But remember my words: Money is something _you should work hard_ _for_, even if you're just going to spend it on something useless!" With another evil grin plastered on his face, Albel puts himself in a battle stance as he holds his sword, the _Artificial Casualty Weapon _known as _Obruo Fatum: Muramasa_, in reverse grip as blue colored flames wrapped around it.

"_Azure Fang!_" Albel roared as he swung his sword down, sending a large, crescent shaped azure colored energy running along the ground at fast speed. The attacks hits the man in black suit, which results in an explosion of azure colored energy, followed by dust flying all over.

"Get a proper job, you easy going middle-aged fart! Stop robbing old people for quick cash!"

The dust subsides, leaving an injured mook on the ground, and a standing Albel, who turns to another direction and heads towards it. However, before he could proceed any further, more men in black suits appeared out of nowhere, swords drawn, and getting in Albel's path. The silver-haired swordsman could grit his teeth in frustration as he puts on a battle stance.

"What is this, Dyn*sty Warriors?! It's as if there's a factory of these douchebags somewhere!" Albel complained as he dodges an incoming attack by a suited mook, before countering with a rising swing with his _Muramasa_, which was wrapped in azure colored flames. The mook is sent up into the air, before being followed by Albel, who grabs the suited mook's right foot in mid-air, before slamming the said mook down towards his allies on the ground. The force of the throw caused a small shockwave as the thrown mook crashes onto the ground, knocking away all the other mooks.

"At this rate, that smooth criminal wannabe is gonna get away scott-free! Where in the world did he get this much people power, anyway?!" Albel groaned as more and more black suited mooks appeared while the silver-haired swordsman kept on taking down more of them, much to his irritation.

"Tch, come on, then! Eat this!" A blue glow encompasses Albel's body, before declaring, "_Just go away already!_" Albel then summons a gigantic double bladed axe in a horizontal position, which came out of a black colored portal that opened up in front of Albel, around waist level. The gigantic weapon then spins in fast speed, before it proceeds to charge towards an incoming group of men in black suits. The said group quickly gets obliterated as the spinning gigantic axe cuts through them like a hot knife through butter.

However, as one group went down, another one pops out of the shadows, much to Albel's chagrin and irritation. Multiple portals with red colored swords coming out of them appeared around Albel as he angrily shouts, "Ok, seriously, screw honorable fighting tactics! Time to do things in the dirty but quick and practical style! _Have some of this!_" Albel roars as the swords from the earlier portals fired off at great speed and numbers, as more swords take their place after getting fired, causing a great rain of blades towards the more incoming groups of men in black suits…

Meanwhile, on Ruby's side of the street-turned-battlefield…

"Whoa…That guy really is a Hunter! I should ask for some tips later!"

Many bodies of knocked out and wounded men in suits are lying around the aspiring huntress, with only five more foes left standing. Gripping _Crescent _tightly, Ruby enters a battle stance with a focused look in her eyes. Within a few moments, two of the five foes came rushing towards her.

However, before any of the two suited men land a swing, Ruby quickly rushes forward towards them, and takes the out one of the suited men with a fast, diagonal slice. The other man in black suit quickly reaches Ruby's range, and attempts to land a quick thrust, only for it to miss as Ruby managed to dodge with a last minute side step.

With the enemy now open, Ruby quickly takes advantage of this and executes a fast, powerful rising slice, which sent the suited man up in the air, where he then gets knocked away farther, as Ruby followed up her earlier attack with three continuous shots from _Crescent Rose's _rifle mode.

"Whew…All right! Who's next?" Ruby loudly asks with a triumphant grin on her, while looking at the remaining three men in black suits, whom all three of them drop their weapons, before running away, while screaming different things.

"This is ridiculous! How the hell is she so strong with such thin arms?!"

"What the hell is wrong with teenagers this days?!"

"Her skill level is OVER 9000!"

Ruby could only tilt her head in confusion, before taking a good look around her for the moment. Other than the knocked out bodies around her, there doesn't seem to be anyone else…

…Well, other than that white haired guy who calls himself Albel, who's currently being surrounded by more of those enemies from earlier. For some reason Ruby couldn't understand, a lot of the foes seems to be rather focused on Albel, while only a few headed for Ruby. However, judging from the things that happened earlier, Ruby could somewhat guess that this Albel guy is the type who likes picking fights…

And then, an idea pops in Ruby's head.

"Whoops, I guess I should join him in whacking those guys too!" Ruby declares as she turns _Crescent Rose _back into its scythe form, and was about to join the fray with Albel, when something caught the corner of her eyesight…

"Huh? Isn't that…?!" Ruby's eyes widened as she spotted the leader of the robbers, namely Roman Torchwick, sneakily hugging the walls en route onto the side of a building with a set of climbable stairs leading into its rooftop…

"Hey, get back here!" Ruby shouted as she proceeds to chase Roman, who now has stopped hugging the walls and went straight into running towards the stairs leading onto the building's rooftop.

Meanwhile, Albel, after hearing Ruby's voice, sees the latter as she chases after Roman, which causes the jaw of the silver-haired swordsman to drop.

"Hey, wait! Don't go alone! There might be traps or reinforcements! Damn it!" Albel complained as Ruby failed to heed his words, and continued chasing Roman. Sighing in annoyance, Albel returns his focus on the multiple foes around him…

"…Damn idiot. Who the hell charges alone after a big boss with this much man power?!This isn't some JUMP manga setting, damn it! She'll get overwhelmed in numbers at this rate! Tch, this is getting on my nerves…_Paradigm Switch!_" Albel declares as a birght blue glow encompasses his body. A few seconds after that, four blue colored portals appeared around Albel, namely in front, back, and his two sides.

"Beat it already! _Bloody_ _Lotus!_" Albel roars as wide and long broadswords shot out of the four portals, before spinning wildly around him in a horizontal direction. The attack quickly dispatches of all the surrounding foes, leaving a flower shaped mark of blood on the ground as the four broadswords disappeared. Albel muttered a solemn '_Good Night_' before sheathing _Muramasa._

"Now that's taken care of, might as well go after that red hooded idiot before she kills herself!"

However, as Albel ran towards the direction that Ruby went onto earlier, more of the mooks in blacks suits appeared, blocking out Albel's path once more, much to his frustration. Readying _Muramasa _in a battle stance once more, Albel sighs in annoyance.

"Ok, seriously, this is just ridiculous!" With weapon in hand, Albel rushes forwards before he rapidly slashes at the suited mooks like a madman on coffee rush, marijuana, LSD, and all other man-made drugs one can think of…

"HORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAAAAA!"

_-Music Fades-_

Roman Torchwick, huffing a bit as he reaches the top of the stairs, finally reaches the rooftop with no problems whatsoever. However, as he was just about to catch his breath…

…A girl in a red hood and a large, mechanical scythe appears behind Roman. Pointing a finger at the man in white suit, Ruby shouts with a heroic tone.

"Hold it right there, Michael J*ckson!"

"…Not every person with my attire is _that _person! And it's Roman Torchwick, Red! I swear, kids these days…" A vein plops on Roman's forehead as he retorted, before sighing in annoyance and taking out a purple colored crystal from his pocket. Roman smirks as he takes a good look at Ruby from above, as the latter puts on a cautious battle stance.

"Well then, say hello to my big friend. Don't worry, it's…a very friendly giant." Roman declares as he throws the purple colored crystal onto the ground, around the direction facing Ruby. The latter proceeds to dash away, in an attempt to avoid whatever the said crystal might do on impact.

The crystal lands onto the ground, and breaks into pieces. But at the same time, bright purple light emits from its impact, blinding Ruby for a short moment. As the light cleared, Ruby's eyes widened at the sight before her.

In front of the aspiring huntress is a creature as large as two combined large buses. It resembles a lion, especially if going by its red mane, overall golden fur, and clawed paws. However, its head appears to be canine-esque, and has two large bull-like horns. Its eyes glow bright red, something akin to a bright red stone. Two digits, 45, are burned onto its back. Ruby had never seen any Grimm that looked like this before in books, especially since it doesn't have the usual mask-like feature that the said Grimm would have on their faces. However, the aspiring huntress is sure of one thing: This foe in front of her is something she'd never encounter before, which made her exclaim…

"Holy acid trip! It's freaking huge!"

Gripping _Crescent Rose _tightly, Ruby puts on a hardened face as she prepares for battle. The large monster in front of her appears to be ready as well, as shown by its sudden crouching, combined with intimidating growls. Ignoring the slight shaking of her legs, Ruby charges forward.

The horned monster charges as well, threatening with an incoming sweeping attack with its right claw. However, in the last minute before getting hit, Ruby managed to get up high into the air by shooting _Crescent Rose _to the ground, propelling her quickly upwards. Landing behind the large monster, Ruby then dashes towards it, landing a sliding slash onto the monster's rear hind legs, and follows it up with two more horizontal slashes from the left and the right, before jumping far back as the large monster quickly faced the direction where it felt the pain, and sees Ruby.

The large monster growls, as it glares daggers at Ruby before a golden glow encompasses its body. With a loud roar to the skies, the monster summons an extremely large glyph, covering both the monster itself and Ruby, who takes a wary look at the gigantic glyph.

The large monster roars once more, this time its after-effect becoming even more lethal: Multiple, large, fast falling meteors are now firing off from the monster's summoned glyph, openly surprising Ruby, who now barely have enough time to prepare herself to defend or even just dodge as multiple gigantic meteors land around her location, causing multiple explosions and dust flying all over the place…

"Kyaaah!"

_-Music Cue: "An Old Foe" from Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha-_

The dust clears, showing Ruby…

…Unharmed, as Albel has managed to place himself in front of her, and managed to summon a barrier which took the form of large, crimson glyphs placed in all directions around Ruby and Albel, as well as the floor around them, which prevented the building's rooftop from collapsing due to the falling meteors. The silver haired swordsman sighs as he turns his attention to Ruby, before taking a deep breath…

"Look here. I know I'm not your father or anything, but…" Albel starts to speak as multiple veins start plopping around his forehead and face, "Why the hell did you start charging on your own?! Are you trying to kill yourself with any strong enemy you see, just like how _Yamcha _does?! To think you'd even go and jump the gun on a _Behemoth Type B.O.W…_ Geez, idiots are all around the planet these days!" Albel shouts out aloud, much to Ruby's shock, who looks down.

"B-but…The big boss in the white suit! He-"

"He got away, right?" Albel cuts off Ruby, who looks down once again and is expecting another scolding from the 'official hunter'. However, what came out of Albel's mouth was quite…unexpected.

"Well, that's alright. There's always time to catch asshats like him. But for now, what's important is to make sure that the civilians around here are going to be safe," Albel declares, much to Ruby's surprise and relief. Albel continues to speak as he now fully grabs Ruby's attention as he finishes speaking…

"You're going to help me on that part, alright? You've got fast legs during the fight with the mooks below, so speed is crucial on this part."

Ruby perked up at Albel's words, and quickly asks for instructions, "Really?! I can help now?! Tell me, what am I supposed to do then, Mr. Hunter?!" Ruby excitedly asks, to Albel's surprise, who wonders if Ruby is probably an undergraduate to some military academy, looking at her combat skills and all. And what is a hunter, anyway? Just as he is curious about these things, Albel shakes it off, and proceeds to instruct Ruby. Meanwhile, the large, horned monster kept firing off more meteors from the glyph it summoned, only for it to fail to penetrate Albel's barrier.

"Well then, listen carefully," Albel starts to speak in a serious manner, "First, using your speed, I want you to go around our area of the town and warn everyone possible to get as far as possible from here. If there are elderly or disabled among them, _make sure _to look for a healthy civilian help them out in the escape. Second, make a call to _Sector Seven_, and tell them that Albel Bloodedge of the _Jaegers _has encountered a _Behemoth type B.O.W. _in this city, and is currently taking care of it. Third, as soon as your done with 1 and 2, you can come back here and join me, but just don't come crying and haunting me if you die in the process. Do you understand?"

"…Ok, got it, Sir Bloodedge!" Ruby says that, and dashes off, despite not understanding what was Sector Seven or B.O.W.'s. But for now, what's important is following the hunter's instructions. It's not every day you get to fight with one, after all. And besides, she gets to join in the fray later, anyway.

In a split second, Albel disintegrates the barrier he summoned. Right after that, Ruby quickly rushes out of the building rooftop in a red flash, and lands straight into the grounds below, before rushing in into the nearest open building. Albel saw this, and turns his attention into the large monster before him, which appears to growl in anger at Ruby's escape.

"Oho? I heard you were expecting a kinky scene of a pubescent teenage girl with slightly burnt clothes tonight, but too bad! For it is I, Albel!"

The gigantic monster roars in anger, which causes more meteors to shoot out of its summoned glyph. However, Albel wastes no time and quickly executes a counterattack.

"Paradigm Switch: Sword Summoner! _Akisazame!_" Albel roars as the meteors come out of the monster's glyph. In turn, hundreds of portals appeared around Albel, facing towards the falling meteors. Multiple swords fire off from the portals, wherein another one would come out and fire as soon as possible, creating a barrage of swords that completely obliterated the incoming meteors, resulting in multiple explosions in mid-air.

"Ohohoho. That's some nice ars magus glyph you have there. It would be bad if someone were to…" With a smirk on his face, Albel raises his right hand as he summons a gigantic portal above the gigantic monster's summoned glyph, where a gigantic sword shoots out of in quick speed, piercing both the glyph and the monster, straight from the head to the body, eventually cleaving it in half. Albel smirks at the sight of the fallen monster's corpse before continuing, "…_Obliterate_ it. _Your face_, that is."

Taking a cautious look around him and seeing no other suspicious activity, Albel quickly decides to check out the situation below, and saw no injured innocents. Feeling his stomach grumble for a bit, Albel planned to take a bite after making sure that there are no casualties from the scuffle earlier.

"Paradigm: Off." Albel declares as a white glow encompasses his body for a split second, before fading out. Deciding to take the stairs, Albel was about to go towards it…

"Well then…I'd better go thank that old man and ask him where they cook some good meat around here!"

_-Music Fades-_

…When a bright light surprises him from above. Albel turns to its source, and finds a rather large helicopter, facing sideways from him with its door open. Albel then saw some people who appears to be inside…

First was Ruby, who seemingly had an apologetic look on her face.

The second one appears to be a middle-aged woman that has very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes are bright green and she wears thin rectangular glasses. She wears a white long-sleeved suit that exposes part of her chest, and puffy sleeves that tighten near the wrist before spreading back out near her hands. Her lower body has a black business skirt with buttons running in a vertical line up the front of it and lighter black-brown stockings. She wears black boots with brown heels, and wears a tattered cape that is purple inside and black on the outside, decorated by a row of diamond-shaped brown beads going horizontally across her cape. For some reason, she has this unpleasant look on her face.

Albel could only twitch an eyebrow at the sight before him. First, he's glad that he got some help with what appears to be authority of the place. Second, for some reason, Albel could feel a sense of foreboding emanating from the helicopter, as if he would be forced to do something he doesn't want to should he let himself be taken in into that helicopter. Despite this, he chooses to wait for the helicopter to land. And a few seconds later, it did.

Ruby and the middle aged blond gets off the helicopter, and head towards Albel, who had a confused look on. The middle aged blond woman quickly went onto business, speaking in a stern tone of voice.

"Mr. Bloodedge, am I right?" The middle aged woman asks, making Albel nod and answer yes. Without pause, the woman continues, "I am Glynda Goodwitch, a huntress and a staff Member of Beacon. If you would may, please come with me. There are some things we need to discuss, Mr. Bloodedge. Especially concerning that monster you just fell." Glynda says in the same cold tone, making Albel think twice about throwing back retorts, and simply respond.

"…Y-yeah. Lead the way, then." Albel manages to rely in a professional manner. It's as if the slightest dismeanor will cause Glynda to…eat him up or something. Meanwhile, Glynda just nods and gestures to Albel and Ruby to follow after her, in which the other two then comply to.

"_That blonde lady…_" Albel, slightly stealing glances at Glynda as they sat in the helicopter, started analyzing whatever he may get out of what he could see, "_She isn't someone I should be messing around too much with…It's the same feeling when I'm around Professor Kokonoe…You know, the feeling of being around an unmarried, sour, menopausal 50 year old woman…Or to put it bluntly, it's that same feeling when walking around a field of flowers…that's filled to the brim with trip mines._"

With those thoughts in mind, Albel takes a seat inside the helicopter. The chopper later takes off, heading for a certain headquarters…

* * *

_Meanwhile, somewhere in the shadows…_

_A cloaked figure has just witnessed the fight between Albel and the Behemoth B.O.W. on the rooftop, from start to finish. The said figure appears to carry something like a large weapon wrapped in cloth onto his back…_

"So, another otherworldy being, huh?" The cloaked figure comments as it touches the clothed weapon on its back, before sighing, "Just like how it was 12 years ago…"

Turning its back, the hooded figure proceeds to walk away, "I wonder if that guy could find a way home, unlike the previous ones…" Another sigh escapes the cloaked being's lips, "…Who are still searching for one."

* * *

"What?! You mean you still haven't found him?!" The voice of a woman rang throughout the briefing room of Sector Seven HQ. The owner of the voice is a young woman with long, auburn hair, pale skin, and bright eyes that are described to be like soft, wet soil in color. She wears a standard nun uniform that is consistent in design to those who belong to the Roman Catholic faith. The uniform itself is a long, black, single piece dress that reaches down to her feet, the dress also has long sleeves reaching down to her wrists. The dress has a white collar and a long black veil…

"I'm sorry about this, Miss Celica, but even after sending a search and rescue squad throughout the planet, there are still no traces of him." Tager explains to Celica, who gives off a downed look after hearing Tager's reply. However, instead of letting it get to her, she clenches her fists, and began to speak again…

"So…If he isn't anywhere around our planet, then…"

"Then it means he probably got sent somewhere far from what we've ventured. Or should I say, somewhere out of this world of ours." Another woman's voice interrupts Celica's guess, which caused the latter to turn to the source of voice, and her eyes showed surprise.

The source of the voice is a fairly young adult catgirl with a slim build. Her eyes are a golden-amber with visible bags under them, due to working overtime in a lab. She has pink hair which she keeps tied in a specialized style consisting of a long ponytail backing up longer tufts resembling large cat ears, which tend to overshadow her actual animal-like ears, which fade into white at the tip. Her attire consists of an altered, scientist version of the usual Kaka jacket with a white coloration. A hole at the lower base provides room for her twin, cat-like tails. She also wears a pair of small spectacles.

"…Professor Kokonoe! You're finally here!" Celica happily says as her…middle school-sized aunt, otherwise who is famously known as Professor Kokonoe A. Mercury of Sector Seven, enters the briefing room. Carrying some sort of disc in her hand, Kokonoe then proceeds to place it at the table. She then turns her attention to Celica for a greeting.

"Good to see that you're well after these years, Celica. Now…" Kokonoe then places her hand above the disc, which causes light to sprout forth from it. A large, rectangular shaped hologram is then shown floating in the air, above the disc. A scene is being shown inside the floating hologram, which caused Celica's eyes to widen as she gasps.

"Professor Kokonoe, is that…Albel?!" Celica says in shock as she saw what was currently played on the hologram…

"Yes, he is. As you can see, this is the record data from Tager's memory bank, which I took and analyzed since yesterday. And if you've noticed…" Kokonoe then pulls out a remote control from one of her pockets, before pointing it at the hologram and pressing a button, which caused the scene to pause. Kokonoe then proceeds to point something at the hologram to Celica, "Celica, do you recognize that…black sphere behind Albel?" Kokonoe asks, to which Celica nods with a shocked expression…

"Y-yes, professor…I've seen that back then, as well…It was the same black sphere from 12 years ago…" Celica looked down as she continued to explain what she remembered from seeing the black sphere from the scene inside the hologram, "…It completely resembled the sphere that sucked in Ragna and Nu back then!" Celica declares with sorrow evident in her voice…

* * *

_**Well, that's all for now. I know some of you might be a bit disappointed in the Chapter Length, but, due to the planned story structure I've already did for this fic, some chapters will be short, while some will be very long. It's just that the current chapter is one of the short ones.**_

_**And also, some other notes:**_

_**1\. Albel makes a lot of anime/Manga references here, namely Dragon Ball Z, JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, and some other from the Shounen JUMP series.**_

_**2\. The Behemoth B.O.W. is a reference to the Behemoth enemy monster from the Final Fantasy series, downright to the part where it uses the Meteor spell. However, unlike the versions in the FF series, where it only casts the Meteor spell when near death, this fic's version will spam it ASAP when it gets hit, for difficulty reasons.**_

_**3\. About the story routes: Don't worry, Velvet is still the first heroine whose 'story route' and 'True Ending' will be journeyed through. Although a new poll for the next heroine will be up in the near future.**_

_**That's all. Until next time.**_


	3. Meeting the Partner

_**AUTHOR's Note: Hello there. It's been a long while, eh? This fic isn't abandoned yet. It's just that…due to some circumstances, I had a lot of doubts if I should continue this fic or not. But, after some time, I decided that I must continue what I started.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do NOT own BlazBlue or RWBY, as they belong only to their respective owners.**_

* * *

Albel hugged himself as the cold air of the airship's air conditioner kept on wrapping itself around him. Apparently, he is on his way onto a questioning of sorts. Considering the ruckus he and the girl named Ruby caused in front of a shop at the middle of the night, it would be unusual if the nearby authorities would take them in for interrogations. Not to mention the possible property damage accumulated during the fight. Albel felt a chill in his spine at the thought of getting a large debt on his credit card.

"…Auntie Celica is surely gonna be livid if I do get another debt…again." Albel muttered to himself, citing many possibilities on what would be the consequences of the encounter the night before. Remembering the event, Albel couldn't help but wonder: Why isn't there any security for the shop that was attacked? It runs open for 24 hours, so it really just doesn't make any sense to have no one guard the place. Speaking of that shop, Albel made a mental note to thank the old man sometime, for the help he gave him…As well as the girl named Ruby who helped out clearing those robbers.

And speaking of Ruby, the red hooded girl is currently sitting a few meters away from Albel, using her cape to cover herself from the extreme cold of the airship's air conditioner. It looks like that she's about to fall asleep due to the current temperature, as she is nodding off and suddenly waking up every few seconds.

"Um, hey, you said your name was Ruby, right?" Albel asks out of the blue, wanting to get the attention of the nodding red hooded girl in the room. In a somewhat sleepy manner, Ruby looked up and turned her head to the direction of Albel's voice, seeing him make a small hand wave at her.

"Um, yes, that's my name."

"Then, Ruby, I would like to ask something important…" Albel states in a serious tone, causing Ruby to try to listen in carefully, only to doze off a split second after. Albel, seeing this, concludes that Ruby isn't in a condition to reply, and that would mean any possible conversations with her would just end up cut off by her sleepiness, which in turn, would lead into awkward silence. Albel decides to end the talk quickly instead.

"…Nevermind. Just rest up and sleep. It should be a while before we arrive…Well, that's what I think anyway." Sighing, Albel goes into another set of chairs in the other side of the room, lines them up beside each other, and laid down on it, as if trying to sleep. Ruby, seeing that, decides that she could use a nap, as she could no longer keep herself awake.

As Ruby also lined up multiple chairs and laid down on them, many things entered her mind. How is her sister and her father going to react to this? To Ruby clearing out criminals? To getting into trouble, again? Will her uncle Qrow let her slide just this once? With all these questions in mind, Ruby tried to assure herself that no matter what happens, she did what she felt was right. That saving the owner of the shop through beating the crap out of the robbers was the right thing to do. With that, Ruby finally clears her mind and falls asleep.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Albel felt the sliding door of the room he's in open up, with a person entering right after. It was Glynda, with a somewhat annoyed face, which crumpled up even more slightly when the witch saw Ruby on another set of chairs. So instead, she proceeds to turn her attention to Albel, who smoothly gets up and stretches himself.

"Well, since the girl is still asleep, I will escort you first. Please follow me." Glynda speaks in a stern tone, without skipping a beat. Her tone reminded Albel of the professors back at the Military Academy he once studied at. To the young swordsman, it shows that the person before him is a true professional, and knows what she is doing. Without wasting time, Albel complies to Glynda's words.

"Okay, understood. Please lead the way."

Glynda nods, and gestures Albel to follow her before turning her back and leaving. As Albel followed her outside of the airship, he is greeted by a large building with a large double door, which was opened towards inside. The two entered, ending up in a large hall, with multiple blue colored sliding crystal doors.

Glynda then moves towards a sliding door found in the opposite direction where the duo entered the building, and as she and Albel approached the sliding door, it automatically opens, revealing an elevator space inside. As Albel entered alongside Glynda, he could feel faint traces of magic circuiting around the space inside the elevator. The machinery appears to run in a similar way to the technology back in his homeland, with Spyrite technology and the Magic Artes system, where magic and technology work together effectively, Albel thought.

About a few seconds later, the elevator stops, and opens up revealing a narrow hallway, leading to a single door. With Glynda walking forward and gesture to follow her, Albel moves forward along with Glynda, heading for the only door found in the hallway. Glynda opens the door and enters it along with Albel. Inside, a person was sitting behind a table with another extra chair in front of it, drinking a cup of what appears to be coffee…

_~Music Cue: "They are all those of Justice" from JoJo Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle~_

The person is a middle-aged man with tousled gray hair and thin brown eyes. He wears shaded glass spectacles and a dark-green scarf with a small, purple, cross-shaped emblem on it. He wears an unzipped black suit over a black-buttoned vest, with a green undershirt underneath. He also wears black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants.

"So, you've arrived, with no problems en route?" The gray haired man asks Glynda, who nods. The former then puts his attention on Albel.

"Now, then, before you ask anything, please take a seat first." The gray haired man says to Albel, who complies and sits on the chair that's in front of the table. Meanwhile, Glynda proceeds to turn her back and said something right before leaving.

"I'll leave the two of you alone then, since I still have to wake up and fetch the other one."

With that, Glynda leaves the room.

"Okay, now that I've sit down, mind if I can ask a question? Who are you? And do you need something from me to call me out this far?" Albel declares, prompting the gray haired man before him to take a single sip of his coffee, before answering the question that was asked.

"Now, now, young man, isn't it a custom to introduce yourself before you ask questions?"

Albel twitched, realizing that he is bordering on unprofessional behavior, which is of course, bad for someone in his line of job. If Tager or Kokonoe were around, a lecture would be ready to ambush him. Clearing his throat, Albel decides to start things over with an introduction. A proper one, this time.

"…I'm sorry about that. My name is Albel Bloodedge, Squad Leader of the Bio Organic Weapon Extermination Squad 1, known as the _Jaegers_, a special squad specifically trained for the elimination of Bio-Organic Weapons, or otherwise known as B.O.W. It is a squad suggested, formed, and initiated by _Sector Seven_, in response to the illegal mass production and abuse of the B.O.W's by Shinra Electronics. That is my identity. How about you, Sir? Who are you?"

The gray haired man appeared to be slightly amused at the way Albel introduced himself. It was like watching a new intern at the office in a Monday morning, something that the gray haired man did not expect from someone of Albel's age. Do youngsters get stressed nowadays? However, unwilling to waste time, the gray haired man introduced himself as well.

"I am Ozpin, the head master of Beacon Academy, a school that specializes in training hunters, warriors whose skills are meant to protect mankind from the monsters known as the Grimm, and uphold the peace that unifies the world." Ozpin declares in a proud voice, as if telling a grand story to an entire stadium of people. Albel, however, just stared confused.

"Umm…what?" Albel asks, causing Ozpin to clear his throat and speak again.

"…To put it bluntly, Mister Bloodedge, I am the head master of a school that trains combatants known as Hunters, who in turn protect mankind from the monsters known as 'Grimm', mysterious creatures who have displayed great danger to humanity since its dawn. To make an even shorter version, the hunter's occupation is similar to your own, Sir Bloodedge. It's just that a whole school is dedicated to train these warriors, rather than just a single squad." Ozpin explains, earning him a look of slight understanding from Albel, who appears to grasp things…a little. He decides to reply to what he just heard.

"I see. So, you're a headmaster of a military school of sorts, Mister Ozpin? I've already graduated, so…"

However, before Albel could continue, Ozpin interrupts him, explaining once again, "My school is not a military school, but a school for hunters, Mister Bloodedge. And did you just say you've already graduated? At your age?" Ozpin asks, with curiosity after hearing what Albel just said. Graduated? At such a young age? Normally, someone around the young swordsman's age would just be still entering Beacon to begin training…

"Well, I managed to pass some of the optional special Spyrite and Magic Artes test during my early grades, so I ended up skipping some years. About four out of six, if I remember correctly." Albel scratched his head, trying to remember some more important information, only for him to remember hazy memories and some unimportant events back at Fenmont University, the school where he trained in the art of combat and his Close Quarter Combat (CQC) Artes, as well as his Ranged Combat Artes. It was a school formed about 25 years ago in Kagutsuchi, a few years after humanity discovered Spyrite Technology, a technology similar to Ars Magus, but instead of having to run on seithr, it runs on mana, a magical energy found on living beings and mother nature itself, including the clean air. Along with it is also the return of usage of main magic, in the form of the method known as Magic Artes.

"Ah, I see. But, you see, Mister Bloodedge, here in Remnant, a student will have to take combat training twice in two different schools, first is two discover their skills, and the second is to furnish and hone them, and proving that you know how to use them for the right cause." Ozpin explains, causing Albel to palm his face and retort with an annoyed tone.

"Look here, Mister Ozpin. I. Already. Graduated. And I am already a registered Squad leader for the _Jaegers_, as well as an agent of Sector Seven. Here, let me show you my employee's I.D." Albel declares, before pulling out his wallet from his back pocket, and opening it, which after he shows the I.D. stuck on the inside to Ozpin. The headmaster stared at it for a moment, before saying something.

"Ah, then could you prove that your I.D. is valid? I just want to make sure that you're not someone like, say, a terrorist? After all, I saw all that ruckus you did in town, and I would like to make sure that someone with so much skill and strength is safe to have around in Remnant, you see." Ozpin states in a matter-of-fact tone, prompting Albel to nod. However, the latter remembers that he forgot his phone… Causing him to look down and scratch his head in embarrassment, before speaking…

"Uhh…I forgot my phone. Can I borrow yours, instead?"

"…I do not have a phone as well. Please use my scroll instead. Here." Ozpin declares, raising his right hand with the palm facing upwards. Then, a gray colored, holographic, rectangular phone sized object with a diamond shaped yellow button in the middle is summoned, wherein Ozpin presses the yellow button. The gray colored object then splits into two, deploying a single screen in between the two gray pieces, which now served as the grip for the hands to hold.

Albel could only stare blankly at the device, having only seen it for the first time. For him, it appears to be similar to the tablet devices used by the employees back at Sector Seven, mostly by scientists, in order to keep files in order, and to communicate with other members of the lab that are out of conversational range. However, despite its familiar appearance, the programming and the apps looks very unfamiliar to Albel, giving him the feeling that he might press the wrong button and unlock some rather…unsettling things, like confidential files, or Ozpin's hidden folder of fetishes, if he ever had one. After a few moments, Albel decides to speak up.

"Thanks. But could you activate the calling app for me? I seriously do not know how the program works for that thing…" Albel honestly states, wanting to be on the safe side rather than take risks with a device that he does not know how to make use of. If there's anything else that he learned from the people at Sector Seven, it's this: When you lack the manual to a device, look for the proper operator, and under any circumstances, do NOT attempt to use or tinker with the device, unless as a desperate last resort.

"Very well." Ozpin responds, pressing a few buttons on his scroll, causing the screen to change, revealing a number pad and an empty screen. Ozpin then turns his attention to Albel.

"Now, could you give me the contact number of your employer?"

Albel proceeds to tell Ozpin the number of Sector Seven's Information Center, where they could then find a way to contact Albel's main employer and boss, A.K.A. Kokonoe Mercury. Without delay, Ozpin types in the contact number using the scroll's number pad, and presses the dial button that appeared after he finishes typing in the numbers. A "BEEP" sound emanates from the scroll, and after a few seconds…

"_Unfortunately, the number you've dialed appears to be out of coverage area. Please try again later._" A voice from the scroll declares, earning a look of unending frustration from Albel, and a look of mild surprise from Ozpin, who actually was completely caught off guard about the fact that the number he just dialed exists…

"_I see. I guess he really isn't lying. The number itself exists, albeit unreachable, despite Vale's unmatched signal frequency._" Ozpin mused. Making a sigh, Ozpin closes his scroll, and turns back his attention to Albel, and speaks in a stern tone of voice.

"I apologize, but it seems that we currently have no method of contacting your superiors. I would like transport you, but, I've never heard of a place nor of an organization called 'Sector Seven', and thus, I can't let you go at large until I've confirmed the validity of your identity."

"What?! You can't be serious! Give me map, and I'll frigging point out the damn place!" Albel retorted in a raised voice, apparently annoyed and irritated at the fact that he isn't believed with all the evidences he has. Without wasting time and changing his expression, Ozpin takes out a map from a drawer under the table he's sitting at, and hands the said map to Albel, who began to search it furiously. However, after a few seconds, Albel quickly grips the map in an another irritated manner.

"What…what the hell is this?! This isn't Earth's world map! Quit screwing with me! Give me a effing proper world map, damn it!" Albel demanded, now clearly irritated. Ozpin, however, coolly rearranges his glasses, before speaking in a calm tone to Albel.

"Ah, but that thing you're holding IS a proper world map. Of Remnant, that is. I have never heard of this 'Earth' of yours. All that I know is that the name Remnant is the name of the planet that I'm living on right now." Ozpin finishes with the same cool tone from earlier, much to Albel's irritation, who felt like he wasn't being taken seriously. Another thing that made him irate was that he felt like Ozpin is trying to observe him like some depressed kid who went to the psychiatrist.

"Oh really? Well then, let's say, you are right, and this thing in my hand is the world map, and I can't really find Sector Seven here, since this isn't the map of my place, are we going to solve your doubt problems by restraining me and keeping me in a cell till someone bails me out? Is that it?" Albel retorted, trying to sound like he figured it out. However, Ozpin's reply to him was something he did not expect…

"Normally, yes, that would be the primary option. However, I have an alternative. An alternative you can take or not." Ozpin declares, with an unusual victorious look on his face, as if he just won a game of chess, "Instead of getting yourself taken in, you can go to my school, and join as a new student. Specifically, we will make a different background for you, in which instead of being the squad leader of an extermination squad, you will have to introduce yourself as a mercenary who joined Beacon as a new student to get a Hunter's license. Until I can find a way to contact your original superiors, you will have to stay under my wing, which of course would mean that all your expenses will be covered as well. A win-win situation for the both of us, isn't it not?"

"A win-win situation? I know my benefits here, but, what's in it for you?" Albel asks with a tinge of doubt. Apparently, with him covered from the authorities, as well as having no worry over expenses and only having to play pretend as a student, Albel has no problem. However, he could not see how this would benefit Ozpin, since all he will do is cover up for someone who can be suspected as a terrorist, and pay for his expenses as a student undercover.

"Well, when I have contacted your superiors, you will know. That's all for now." Re-arranging his glasses coolly once more, Ozpin gives Albel the offer once more, this time with a more professional voice and aura around him, "So, will you accept my offer, or will you refuse?"

In this situation, Albel knew no better than to accept the deal. Refusing it would be one of the biggest idiotic decisions he made his whole life, and that does not include the time when he mistakenly texted the number of a love hungry psychotic highschool girl back in Fenmont University, which resulted in Albel getting stalked 24/7 and almost getting a shotgun wedding due to said psycho's perverted tendencies.

Seeing the opportunity, Albel decides to give his reply, "Okay then, I'm accepting that offer of yours. I'll play as a mercenary turned student, right? I can do that. At least, till I get called back at Sector Seven and resume my job. Let's do this!"

"Understood. Then, the first thing you have to do is to proceed outside, and wait for Glynda. Tell her you've accepted 'Ozpin's offer', and that you must now sign the documents that require your information and signature." Ozpin states with a victorious face. Albel nods and leaves, exiting through the door of the room. As soon as the young swordsman was outside the door, the headmaster inside the room gave himself a small victory fist pump.

Now that the deal with the mysterious swordsman is done, Ozpin now proceeds to prepare himself for the next talk he shall deal with: The deal with the girl with the large, red scythe. Her fighting style, from what Ozpin had seen via cameras, was way too familiar and dangerous to be left alone. Deicing that he needs information on where the red hooded girl learned to fight like that, Ozpin decides to get the said info from the person herself.

Meanwhile, after taking Ruby to the headmaster, Glynda now proceeds to take Albel to another room, where school applications were waiting to be filled out on the table…

_~Music Fades~_

* * *

The next day…

A large airship flew through the air, heading for a certain place, the place known as Beacon. The place where are hunters are born, molded, and finally, sent to the world for their duty to protect mankind and uphold peace.

Inside the airship were lots of people, mainly new students who are about to start their new life on the school for hunters. The expression from every student varied, ranging from excitedness, nervousness, fear, happiness, confusion, etc. Like for example…

"I can't believe it! My little sister is going with me to Beacon! This is the best. Day. Ever!" A young girl, about seventeen years of age, hugs Ruby out of great joy, much to the latter's embarrassment.

The said girl has long blond hair that becomes lighter in color at the tips and flows in a loose and messy manner, with a few locks sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head. She has a pale complexion and lilac eyes. wears a tan vest with gold piping over a yellow, low-cut crop top with a black crest that resembles a burning heart. The vest has puffy cap sleeves with black cuffs. On the sides of the cuffs, there are two small, golden buttons.

She wears a brown belt with a buckle, a pouch, and a small banner-like object. The same burning heart crest appears on this banner, except golden in color. She wears black shorts under her belt, which resembles a pleated skirt in the back. Over the short shorts but under the belt is a white, asymmetrical back skirt.

Aside from an orange infinity scarf around her neck, she has no discernible jewelry. On her feet she wears brown, knee-high platform boots that appear to be made of leather, with orange socks of different lengths. Her left leg also has a gray, bandana-like object wrapped around the top of her boot. She wears fingerless black gloves underneath her weapons, which resemble two yellow mechanized gauntlets with a black design.

This blond haired girl goes by the name of Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister and now also probably classmate. After hearing that her younger sister was admitted to Beacon, she was a lot happier than how she was surprised, as she can go at the same school as her sister at the same year, allowing her to watch over Ruby in a longer span of time and distance. For Yang, it would be great if they could be on the same team as well.

"…Stop it…" Ruby mutters out of embarrassment, not really disliking Yang's hug, but rather because she believes that such actions of affection are reserved at home only. However, the older sister seems to not really, before finally putting a bit of distance between herself and Ruby. The younger sister groans in relief.

"But, I'm so proud of you! I can't help myself to be this happy for my sis!" Yang replied, expressing her feelings on the matter. Ruby, however, lightly shook her head humbly, as if not really accepting what she just heard. She doesn't really want the recognition, Ruby thought to herself.

"But what you pulled off was incredible. Everyone at Beacon will think you're the bee's knees!" Yang proudly states, only for her happy words to earn a retort from Ruby, who really, really doesn't want the recognition and attention she'll receive.

"But I don't want to be the bee's knees! I just want to be the normal girl with normal kness!" Ruby retorted, expressing her dislike for attention, something that yang had noticed ever since they were kids, and something that she has been helping Ruby conquer as well, to no to little avail.

"Aww, what's with you? Aren't you supposed to be excited?" Yang asked out of confusion at her little sister's unusual reaction to being admitted to the school of her dreams. Back home, Ruby would talk non-stop on how she would someday follow Yang into Beacon after graduating from Signal Academy, sounding like she wanted to do so as soon as possible. But now that she's got her wish, she's somewhat…different. Ruby's reaction to the admittance was something that really surprised Yang, as it was somewhat jarring.

"Of course I AM excited! But I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything…And besides, I wasn't the only one who stopped those bandits. A professional hunter helped out two, you know." Ruby explains, only for Yang to move towards Ruby's side and put an arm around her younger sister, before saying…

"But you ARE special! People of your age wouldn't have the same courage to help out as much as you did, you know, sis." Yang cheerfully reassured her sister, who simply looks down and nods. However, before any pep talk could go further, an interruption by the loud sound of a report about a robbery is being told in a hologram took place, found in the hall of the airship.

"…The robbery was led by Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa." The voice from the hologram finishes, changing the view on the screen from Torchwick's picture into a live broadcast of a female reporter, who has sharp yellow eyes and short silver hair, reaching the middle of her neck. A report about a peaceful protest for civil rights of Faunus turning violent as the interference of a group called White Fang occurred. The report then goes on to say that the group was once peaceful, before it suddenly went to turn to violent methods of protest…

Meanwhile, at one corner of the hall watching the entire thing was a slightly surprised Albel, who just discovered something about the new place he's in. Apparently, Beastkins are called Faunus in Remnant, and by the look of things, they won't take anything else than that name. Now the young swordsman has just discovered one similarity from this place to his own; There are also Beastkins here, and with them are the most obvious results of racism from both sides, although the Faunus seems to have it harder.

"…I don't think I can do anything big without Sector Seven's back up, so I guess I'll just stick to the old fashion way of helping…for now." Albel mutters to himself, having no choice but to stick to one method; The Mafioso style, A.K.A. hunt them down and teach them life lessons…with fists. Although having a little discretion when doing those would help a lot, Albel thought. He was only supposed to play as a student for a probably short amount of time, after all. Albel knew not to mess up the trust he got entrusted with.

Suddenly, the hologram switched from the news report into a projection of Glynda, who proceeds to give a speech to the students about Beacon, and how privileged they were to have been able to get admitted to the school, and how they are to become the future Hunters that will maintain peace that the world has right now, and more things that Albel failed to find an interest in. Popping his joints as he stretched them, Albel proceeds to leave and head for the airship's cafeteria and buy a drink or two. All that standing around and walking off have made him quite thirsty.

_~Music Cue: "Silver Twist" from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures: Stardust Crusaders~_

However, his peaceful walk to the cafeteria was interrupted as the sound of loud footsteps rang from his left side. Albel turns his attention to it, and sees a blond haired young man running towards him, covering his mouth while doing so. From how the blond looked, Albel's instincts _screamed_ one thing…

…That colliding with the blondie will result in one hell of a tragedy. Without wasting a single breath, Albel side steps to his right, barely avoiding the running blond's speeding rush, who looked like he was staggering as he missed Albel. However, before Albel could draw a breath of relief, the blond suddenly turned towards him, looking like he's asking forgiveness for whatever was going to happen. Seeing this, Albel's face made a look of complete and utter _fear_.

"Oh, son of a b*tch…" Taking quick breaths and a slowly turning his back, Albel slowly backs away from the blond, while readying himself to run. As soon as his body is ready, Albel kicks his feet at their strongest, running like he's being chased by a crazy stalker with multiple flying swords as powers.

And on cue, the blond young man runs after Albel at the speed of a rampaging bull, staggering as he does so. In a few seconds, the blond has minimized the gap between him and Albel, who starts screaming as he looked back and saw his situation…while the blond started burping with a not so very reassuring sound.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh _shit_! Get away from me already!" Albel's voice bursted throughout the airship's halls, causing the surrounding people to see the spectacle…

…And start running as well, complete with looks of horror on their faces. Some of them, however, were quite unlucky, as they got within the blond's range…

…And got barfed on, and fall unconscious, complete with a look of experiencing a lifetime's worth of trauma. Albel saw this happen even as he ran, as he had time to look back while escaping. The adrenaline in his body pumped up about 5 times stronger as he saw the blond keep on running even after barfing once, and still looks like he's ready to fire more, evidenced by the blond covering his mouth with his hand, and the constant burpings. And by a stroke of bad luck, the blond runs once again like a hot-blooded bull…towards Albel's direction.

"Oh _COME ON!_ You hate me or something?! Why not go to the damn bathroom instead of firing your damn puke on people?! Is the toilet made of gold or something so precious that you won't use it?! Hey, quite chasing me already! _Holy shit, you're fast! GYYYYAAAAAHHHHHH!_" Albel kept on screaming as he ran for his life, now knowing what terrible fate he has should he fail to escape the rampaging puking machine, who, by himself, appears to be quite the relentless enemy, admittedly someone that Albel feared more than the B.O.W.s.

In a few moments, the blond has once again nearly closed the gap between him and Albel, much to the latter's horror. Without wasting time and giving the blond an opportunity, Albel blasts in almost all of his mana unto his legs, furthering their power, and thus, increasing his speed about three times, with his fast heartbeat and adrenaline helping in the effort. However, the chasing blond does not appear dettered by Albel's efforts, and proceeds to sprint even faster, slowly closing the gap towards Albel once more.

"You've gotta be kidding me…Just how determined is he?! Is puking on someone's face his lifetime career?! Did his dad told him to pursue this path in life?! Just what is wrong with him?! Why me?! Just why?!" Albel's cries rang around the halls once more as he ran, with tears comically flying out his eyes, and his face paler than its usual color of healthy ivory. However, the blond chasing him does not appear to listen, and just kept speeding up without restraint, much to Albel's horror, endless cries, and adrenaline rush.

"Oh my _GOOOOOOD!_"

The chase lasted up to the other end of the hall, where a lot of unaware students were waiting for arrival at Beacon. Ruby and Yang are among them, standing in front of the glass windows and watching the scenery below. However, this peaceful moment ended with a scream…and a raging, puking blond.

"Everyone _out of the way!_ Move it!" Albel shrieked as he dashed through the crowd of students, smoothly sliding in between them and passing through, thanks to his adrenaline powered senses. Ruby and Yang saw this, and got confused, especially Ruby, who recognized Albel as a professional Hunter. Her jaw dropped as she watched Albel run away like he's being chased by a lion on steroids. However, her surprising observation comes to a quick end as the sound of rushing footsteps approach her, followed by the sound of someone puking with gusto, complete with the disgusting smell.

Only by then, and by a moment too late, Ruby had realized…

Puke is already all over Yang's shoes.

"Yang, there's puke all over your shoes!"

"Huh? What do you-OH MY GOD! Get away from me!"

"I'm sorry…BLARG!"

A lively day is set for Beacon once again…

_~Music Fades~_

"So, this is Beacon…It's pretty large alright, but, not as large as Fenmont, though." Albel muttered as he exited the airship, and sees Beacon as soon as he puts his feet onto the ground, marveling at its large size. Though admittedly not as large as his previous school, Albel still admired the feel and the architecture of Beacon, as its building and primary structure reminded Albel of the magic schools he read about in books and saw in animes back home.

"Urrk…Blegh!" A voice resounded from behind Albel, causing him to be alerted and jump on reflex, and turning his sight on the direction of his back in an instant. What he saw was the vomiting blond from earlier, taking out all of his rejects of the stomach on an unfortunate garbage can. Albel can't help but worry about the blond's condition, especially considering the fact that he still kept on puking even after having left the ship. It might be food poisoning already, and he might not have noticed it due to the fiasco from earlier.

Taking slight caution, Albel approaches the puking blond, and calls out to him.

"Um, hey, you alright there? You have been puking it out non-stop since we were in flight."

The blond first finishes his business, wipes his mouth with a handful of tissues, disposes them, and faces Albel with an assuring look.

"I'm alright. I was just a little airsick, that's all. Thanks for asking." The blond says while scratching his head, while causing Albel to sigh in slight relief. Looks like it wasn't food poisoning after all.

"By the way, I'm Jaune Arc. Nice to meet ya, um…?" The blond named Jaune introduces himself with a cheery tone as he reaches out his right hand for a hand shake, causing Albel to promptly respond to the greeting while introducing himself as he shook hands.

"My name's Albel Bloodedge. Nice to meet you as well, Jaune." Albel says with a slight smile before letting go of the hand shake. Now that he's got an aquaintance, Albel decides to waste no time, and proceeds to ask some questions.

"Say, Jaune, wanna help me find the dome? I head the opening ceremony's going to be held there."

"Really? Then, let's get going!"

"AAAACHHHHOOOOO!"

_***BOOM***_

A loud sneeze followed by a large explosion interrupts Albel and Jaune's search, causing the two of them to look for the source. What caught their eyes were two people who appeared to be arguing in the middle of the plaza-like crossroad on the pathway to Beacon. Albel recognized one of them as he and Jaune went closer to see…

"Is that…Ruby?" Albel muttered as he saw the red hooded girl, who appears to be apologizing to another girl, who seems to be pissed and is raining down a whole lot of rants towards Ruby, who even then still tried her best to remain calm and work things out. Before Albel nor Jaune could jump in and defuse things, a black haired girl with black ribbons atop her head appears to have interrupted the argument between Ruby and the white haired girl, and seems to have said something that made the white haired girl pissed and stomp her way away from Ruby. But before Ruby could thank her, the black haired girl leaves, causing Ruby's chance to fade away, and even caused her to suddenly lie on her back on the ground, much to Albel's surprise.

"I'd better help her. Wanna come with me, Jaune?" Albel asks Jaune, who nods quickly. Without delay, Albel quickly heads beside Ruby, and reaches out his hand. Ruby, seeing Albel, quickly accepts his help and gets up, and proceeds to shake off dust from her clothes.

"I don't remember people creating roads to sleep on them. You okay there?" Albel asks Ruby, who quickly nods her head before replying.

"Yep, I'm alright, Mister Bloodedge. No broken bones or anything! Although I did explode a moment ago…Sheesh, what was with that girl?!" Ruby states in an almost annoyed manner, while pouting hard. She really didn't like the attitude of the Weiss chick. Ruby apologized a lot already, and yet, she kept on nagging, much to Ruby's confusion and frustration. Albel just sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, I saw the whole thing. Don't worry, you're not at fault there, since you already apologized. That chick was just overreacting. And don't call me Mister. Just Albel. I'm not that older than you, I guess." Albel reassures Ruby, who got confused at the last statement, and decides to retort.

"Huh? But you're a professional Hunter! Are you sure?"

"And I am NOT a Hunter, Ruby. I am a leader of a group professional Mercenaries, which are dedicated to slaying monsters, or Grimm, as you call it. I got offered by Professor Ozpin to get an official Hunter's license via schooling, and I didn't really mind, so I accepted it and got here." Albel explains, causing Ruby's jaw to drop in disappointment, complete with shoulders down. However, Albel quickly follows up with more words, "Although, I've been fighting those things for five years already, so that still makes me more experienced than you. Capische?"

Ruby's expression quickly perked up, curiosity hitting her mind when she heard the last part, prompting her to ask…

"Wait, for _five years? _How old are you now, anyway?"

"I'm seventeen. And yeah, I began fighting them when I was twelve, and that's that." Albel stated, even though it wasn't really Grimm he fought back then, but B.O.W.s instead, with Ruby having a surprised face at what she just heard. She couldn't really believe that someone that young would fight Grimm, but, remembering how Albel handled the large grimm-like monster back at Vale city, Ruby had her evidence of the young swordsman's experience.

"Woah, man, since you were twelve?! That's ridiculous!" Jaune expresses his surprise at the most eloquent way possible, which is of course by a loud shout. However, the blond quickly notices Ruby, and gets quickly gets introduced by Albel, who apologizes to Jaune.

"Oh crap, I forgot to introduce you! I'm sorry about that!" Albel bows quickly in apology, before finally proceeding to introduce his new friend to Ruby, "Ruby, this is Jaune Arc. I met him when I…uh…went off the airship! Jaune, meet Ruby, the amateur Huntress who helped me take out some criminals back at Vale a day ago." Albel says to his two friends, who quickly shook hands, but not before Ruby recognizing who Jaune was, especially after his…devastating rampage aboard the airship a few minutes earlier.

"Weren't you that guy who puked all over the airship?"

"Well, I, uh…yeah. That was me…"

"Well, you washed your hands and face, right? I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

"Nice to meet you too, Ruby. I'm Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue! Ladies love it!" Jaune and Ruby greeted each other, shaking hands as they do, before breaking off, with Ruby raising an eyebrow at Jaune's last line. Without further ado, Jaune quickly resumes his question towards Albel, "And back to topic. Were you seriously a mercenary since twelve, dude? Were your parents okay with that?"

"Well, I went to combat school at seven, passed a few optional special tests, and skipped some years, so I graduated at twelve, where I entered mercenary work. And as for my parents, well…They disappeared into thin air 12 years ago. I ended growing up with a relative of mine, so I never really had any much of a regret of going into the job I have right now." Albel explains, while keeping a straight face on. Meanwhile, Ruby had a saddened look on her face, while Jaune had a deeply regretting one. The latter quickly speaks up in a sincere tone.

"I'm…sorry, for asking."

"Woah, it's alright! No need to get all gloomy now! And besides, we really should look for the dome. We've got to go for the opening ceremony!" Albel reminded his two companions, whose ears shot up and their minds alerted. The trio then looked around, and found out that they do not know the way, much to their horror. However, growing an idea in his mind, Jaune proceeds to quickly tell his friends.

"Hey, guys, I'm sure the students around us are heading towards the dome, since they don't wear the uniforms, meaning that they are also newbies like us. Let's follow them!" Jaune suggested, earning him Albel and Ruby's thumbs up. Without hesitation, the trio quickly dashed forward towards the direction where many students were heading onto…

As they ran, Ruby muttered something under her breath…

"Growing up without any parents or siblings at all, huh?"

* * *

"Look here. Motion sickness is a more common problem than people let on, guys."

"Does that include chasing people and _aiming at them_ right before firing it off, Jaune?!"

"Uhh…of course not, Albel. The chasing thing was just an accident. And Ruby, please stop with the Vomit Boy thing. Why not call me fabulous boy instead?"

"I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind. And no, I am _not _calling you that, by the way."

The three friends argued, as they headed for the general direction of the dome.

After arriving at the cafeteria, the dorms, the forests, the toilets, and the classrooms, Albel, Jaune, and Ruby finally reached the dome, where the opening ceremony was being held. A lot of students were standing around, eagerly waiting of being welcomed into the school of Beacon.

"That…was truly, truly quite a round trip. Thank you for finally teaching us the way, map on the school bulletin board. I have nothing else more to say…" Albel commented as he enters the dome, with Ruby and Jaune, who also appeared as exhausted as Albel does. As soon as they entered, a cheery voice called out to Ruby…

"Hey, Ruby, over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang called out to Ruby, who then perks up and quickly says goodbye to the other two who was with her.

"Oh! Guys, I gotta go! See you later after the ceremony!" Without waiting for a reply, Ruby dashes off, leaving off Albel and a somewhat frustrated Jaune, who wanted to talk to the red hooded Huntress more.

"Wait! Aww, now where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

"Don't worry man. Your pick-up lines are nice. Really great. Super cool. I'm sure you'll become a heartthrob at Beacon in no time. I mean, you're so smooth, man, the chicks will start running as soon as they'll hear your voice! Damn, you're awesome." Albel stated in a casual tone of voice, with a slightly dripping sarcasm from start to finish. Jaune, however, replies differently, much to Albel's surprise.

"Whoa, really, dude?! Thanks! I'll keep it up!" Jaune declares with confidence and gratitude to Albel, who palms his face, followed by a sigh and a face that says '_are you serious?_'

"Don't mention it. Just go on. Good luck with the pick-ups. Just remember I ain't joining you anytime soon. Well, maybe I can during our free times around the school year." Albel outright declares, while Jaune just looks around happily, looking for a target girl to pick-up, inspired by Albel's earlier words, despite the fact that this wasn't the supposed reaction. Albel, for the meantime, looks for a place to hide and nap on. After all, opening ceremonies are a lot more boring than listening to a drunkard at the tavern, for Albel anyway.

Meanwhile, back with Ruby and Yang…

"So, how was your first day at school, little sis?" Yang excitedly asked, curious about what Ruby might have discovered on her first detour alone around school. However, it seems that it wasn't as she expected them to be, as Ruby showed an irritated frown at her older sister before speaking up.

"Yeah, you mean when you ditched me and I exploded?!"

"Wow, melt down already? That escalated quickly…" Yang sweat dropped as she heard her little sister's predicament, not knowing that Ruby did sneeze dust with an explosion. Believing that it was just some social anxiety problem, Yang made a mental note to give Ruby a proper pep talk later.

"Well, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school, and there was some fire, and I-I think some ice…?" Ruby explains in the speed of light. Of course, Yang appears unconvinced, although a little amused at what she heard and believed as another excuse from her little sister.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asks with a mock doubtful look, causing Ruby to sigh in frustration. Looks like she has no other choice, but to explain things in a clear way. Thinking that, Ruby decided to tell Yang of what exactly happened to her on the few moments after she was left alone outside of the airship.

"I wish! I tripped on some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then, I sneezed, and I exploded, and then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad. I just wanted her to stop yelling at me! If it wasn't for that black haired girl, she would've continued nagging like a machine gun on steroids! And-"

"YOU!"

A loud voice interrupts Ruby's explanation, surprising both her and Yang, but more of shock on Ruby's part as she recognized the all-too-familiar voice, causing her to look back and suddenly jump towards Yang's direction, causing her to catch Ruby in her arms in a comedic fashion.

Behind Ruby was the same girl from earlier, the girl named Weiss Schnee. She appears to be wearing a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress, with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero is red and the sleeves turn blue as they get closer to her wrists. The back of the bolero displays the Schnee Crest, which bears a resemblance to a snowflake.

Weiss also wears an apple-shaped necklace along with a pair of thin, rectangular earrings. She wears white, heeled wedge boots that go to mid-calf; the insides are also lined with red. Her long, white hair is pulled back in an off-center ponytail, at the base of which is a small tiara that resembles icicles. She has a pale complexion and ice blue eyes. She also bears a crooked scar down her left eye.

"Oh my God…You really exploded, little sis?" Yang said as she realized the situation. Apparently, looks like Ruby had a collision with the white haired girl, and they got a not-so-good first impression of each other, thanks to that. Not exactly the best way to make first friends, Yang thought.

"You were lucky we weren't blown to the other side of the cliff!" Weiss proceeded to blast a nag towards Ruby, who is now trying to find a way to defuse the situation, again. Isn't there a way for Weiss to be quiet and leave her alone? Ruby thought that as she scrambled her head for ideas, and being barely able to come up with just one…

"It was an accident! An ACCIDENT! And I already apologized, too, didn't I? Isn't there a way for me to make it up for you and leave us alone?" Ruby retorted, in an attempt to make Weiss at least agree and leave her and Yang alone, being unable to keep up with whatever was coming out of Weiss' mouth, and is unwilling to follow, anyway.

Weiss replies with a 'Hmph!', and proceeds to take out a small catalogue out of nowhere, and shove on Ruby's face. After that, she begins to recite something, something that just passes through Ruby's ears and doesn't register in her system at all.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries sustained while operating a Schnee dust company product. And…" She proceeds to explain some more…alien wordings Ruby barely understands, up tp the point that Ruby doesn't even care anymore, and just stared at her with a confused face, while scratching her own head.

"Uhh…I'll go over there, and, uh, get some drinks. S-see ya!" Ruby declares, being unable to keep up with Weiss' words, and deciding that she can do nothing about it, runs out of Weiss' sight, followed by a surprised Yang…who also looked a little amused at her little sister's behavior.

"Hey, get back here! Damn little…She even had the gall to run away from me!" Veins popped all over Weiss' face, her temper about to explode in any minute. However, just when her day couldn't get any worse, a voice resounds from behind her…

"Hey there! I'm Jaune Arc. I'm 17 years old, and I'm a natural blonde too, you know." Jaune smoothly states as he suddenly goes near Weiss before doing a weird, fabulous pose, something that Weiss mentally described as 'bizarre' and 'homoerotic'. Her anger somewhat dissipated, and instead turned into confusion and an urge to run for the hills. In her point of view, a guy doing a pose so hard that he spontaneously sparkles with pink and golden light is a guy which she really should boot away from. Looking at the bizarrely posing blond in front of her, Weiss got a feeling so complicated.

"And I'm uncomfortable. Please excuse me." Weiss quickly declares, before dashing away from Jaune, who had a confused look on his face, along with a slightly disappointed feeling in his heart. It seems that Albel's advice on chicks wasn't so effective…Seeing this, Jaune returns to his friend and tells him the results of the 'advice'.

"Dude, that _JoJo pose _you taught me wasn't effective at all! She ran away quickly! I thought you said it was '_in_' these days!"

Albel sighed at Jaune's comment. Admittedly, back in his place, the pose was really effective, due to the source, an anime, becoming famous all around, both to children and adult. Looks like the sincere advice missed, due to Albel's own miscalculations, especially on what he thought was Weiss' character.

"I admit, I failed. Sorry about that. That Weiss chick really IS a rich kid. The miscalculation on my part was that I thought that she was just simply fashionable…" Albel states apologically, while scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner right after. Jaune only shook his head and sighed, while giving his silver haired friend a considerate look.

"Look, we make mistakes all the time. In this case, it was the both of us, so don't get too beat up over it. And don't apologize. Let's look for another girl and use the same tactic, then!" Jaune cheerily declares, pointing onto a direction where they found another girl, who had black hair locked in twin tails and had bright red eyes and pale, white skin…

"Yeah, you're right. Let's do this!" Albel declared as he and Jaune goes on the 'offensive', heading for the girl they saw earlier. Approaching her, Jaune makes the first move…

…_and poses fabulously._

A miraculous choir of girly screams and giggles erupted, much to Jaune and Albel's surprise. The former quickly begins his offensive by talking smoothly to the girl with twin tails, while Albel just hid himself somewhere, using the commotion as an opportunity to find a suitable place to nap during the ceremony…

_-A few minutes later-_

Suddenly, the sound of someone clearing their throat resounded from the sound system throughout the ballroom. It was Ozpin.

"I'll keep this brief. You've travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft in order to aquire new skills. And when you are finished, you dedicate your life into the protection of the people. But when I look amongst you, all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction…" Ozpin declares with an odd face, appearing to be a mixture of tired, and annoyed. From anyone's point of view, it would look like he didn't have his morning coffee. In truth, yes, Ozpin, having been called to the morning ceremony without letting him drink his coffee, is seriously not in the mood for a happy day. And true to his word, he kept things brief, and left the stage, unable to wait for the sweet warmth of his beloved coffee…

Meanwhile, sitting on the ground comfortably and resting his back on a pillar, hidden from many people's point of view, Albel napped smoothly…

* * *

_Fire…_

_There was fire all over. All he could see around him was hell. All pillars of wood that once served as the support of the ceiling, the furnitures, the doors, were all covered in flames…_

_Tears are already flowing out of his eyes. He was afraid. He doesn't want any of this. He…then felt a pair of warm pair of hands hugging him protectively from behind…_

"_It's all right…I'll be here with you. I will protect you…"_

* * *

"Hey, Albel! It's time to move to the ballroom. Wake up!" Jaune loudly says, all the meanwhile shaking Albel to wake him up.

Albel slowly comes to consciousness, wakes up fully, and finds himself still being shook by his friend. Apparently, it appears he had fully fallen asleep, and was lucky enough to have Jaune wake him up, since it appears that all the other students have left the room.

"Ugh…I guess I need more sleep these days. Thanks for the wake-up call, Jaune." Albel declares as he stood up, and start popping his joints. Jaune himself starts doing some leg stretches as he begins to reply to Albel.

"You're welcome, man. By the way, we were instructed to move to the ballroom, since that's where we are to sleep for the night with the other freshmen. Oh, and we're supposed to get our sleeping gears from the staff outside, since they've already took our bags for us." Jaune explains, gesturing to the exit of the large dome. Without wasting time, Albel nods, and takes the lead, followed by Jaune. Once outside, they headed for the lace where the airship landed earlier, and found a staff member of the school carrying two bags, with Albel and Jaune's name on them. The two thanked the staff, before taking their respective bags, and headed for the ballroom, where the other students have prepared to sleep for the night…

_A few hours later…_

Albel, now in his sleeping gear, which is a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of black shorts with red outlines, is now sitting on his borrowed bed, which is a very thick, yet soft comforter. Yawning once, Albel takes a look around him, making a short analysis of what's happening around inside the ballroom, apparently out of boredom, as well as spotting anything suspicious.

On one corner of the ballroom, stood Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, who were loudly arguing. A few steps from them was the girl with black ribbons from earlier, the same girl who saved Ruby from Weiss this morning. She looks pretty annoyed with the commotion in front of her, as she is reading a book of some sorts. A moment later, she appears fed up, and turns off the candle beside herself, and heads to sleep, ignoring the still arguing trio near her.

On the other end of the ballroom is the exit, where, out of nowhere, a girl with brown hair and bunny ears, wearing a full body brown colored pajamas with a carrot motif, left through, looking like she was in hurry. Albel raised an eyebrow at that one. Apparently, any freshman would adhere to the rules. Breaking them is something that they do when they think they know how to get away with it, not on their first day when they still do not even know what the rules are. A freshman going out of the sleeping area at naptime is means something wrong. Not wanting to tempt fate by assuming it's nothing, Albel gets up, and follows the bunny girl out of the ballroom…

Meanwhile, freshly changed into his sleeping wear, which is a full body pajamas and a pair of blur bunny slippers, Jaune was walking towards his comforter, when he noticed Albel dashing his way through the beds of the other students, and heads off to the exit. Normally, Jaune would have followed him, but, the sight of three cute gals chatting up nearby caused Jaune to lose his earlier focus and instead head towards the aforementioned trio, with a somewhat…suave aura around him…

_Meanwhile, outside the ballroom, in front of a fountain…_

The brown haired bunny sighed in relief as she finally managed to get herself away from the hell known as the ballroom. Sitting on one of the chairs nearby, the bunny girl rested herself, finally able to calm down after her…interaction with the humans in the sleeping place. The bunny girl felt her eyes slowly tear up, remembering what they did to her during the opening ceremony, where a bunch of humans were making fun of her, and her ears, and her being a faunus…

"Hey, you alright there? The ballroom will close at 9:30, you know." A voice calls out to the bunny girl before any tears could fall of her eyes, causing her to jump of surprise. She turns to the source of the voice, and finds Albel, who has an unreadable expression on his face. The latter realizes that he probably made an unpleasant entrance, judging from the look on the bunny girl's face, and decides to speak up.

"Ah, I'm sorry for surprising you. My name's Albel. Albel Bloodedge. What's yours, miss?"

The bunny girl was shocked. A human? This polite? Having doubts in her mind, the bunny girl attempts to look Albel in the eye, only to be met with a pair of strong, unflinching red eyes, with no malicious aura in them. In contrast, the eyes have an honest look on them, something that made the bunny girl a little relieved, although still not willing to trust the person in front of her. That said, she believes that introducing herself might not really do too much harm, from the white haired person in front of her, at least.

"I'm…Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina…N-nice to meet you…"

The girl called Velvet looks down as she spoke, reminding Albel about the faunus matter earlier. The pieces are coming together now. The rampant discrimination to faunus by humans comes to mind, and this girl is probably a victim, too, Albel thought. She most likely left the room due to the possible mistreatment by the surrounding humans, who appear to outnumber the faunus by a 7 to 3 out of 10. Resisting would have ended in disaster for Velvet, and the other faunus.

"Nice to meet you too, Velvet. I know that this is too sudden to ask, but…" With a sincere tone, Albel proceeds to voice out his concern, "…Are you alright? You don't look too well right now, reddish eyes and all."

For a moment, Velvet's face turned red, before turning away and covering her face in embarrassment. She never really wanted anyone to see her in that state. Especially when she's about to cry it off.

"Wha-what are y-you talking ab-b-b-bout?! I…I'm okay! I'm not hurt at all! P-please _leave me alone!_" Velvet says loudly, stammering as she did so. Whatever happens, she must _not _show that she cried…well, almost, anyway. Albel could only scratch his head in confusion at the bunny faunus antics. From his point of view, it appears that she doesn't trust him yet, which is pretty normal since they just met. But in any case, Albel wanted to make sure that she's okay, and that she's still far from a breakdown. And so far, Velvet's condition is around average, considering that she even managed to talk to him.

"Well, if you say so. But, if you need help with something, you can look for me in the ballroom. We're schoolmates, and possibly future classmates, so don't be afraid to ask for help from me, alright?" Albel reassured Velvet, whose ears perked up, along with her face, screaming the expression of surprise all over it. Meanwhile, Albel simply turns his back, and leaves for the entrance of the ballroom, intending to go to sleep, as he saw that there's nothing he can do about Velvet if she doesn't want to open up. Well, they just met, so that's normal. Another option would be to talk to her longer, but, considering Velvet's reactions, Albel thought that it wouldn't be wise to force a long conversation on someone, especially if they are the shy-types.

However, before Albel could grab the door of the ballroom, the meek voice of Velvet resounded far behind him…

"Umm…thank you…"

Albel stopped for a moment, before looking back, gave Velvet a small smile, and enters the ballroom. Meanwhile, Velvet stayed outside, and looked at the brightly shining moon, revering in its bright beauty, while thinking of what the words she said to the human she just talked to. Was it too cruel? Should she have been nicer when she wanted to express that she wanted to be alone? These thoughts echoed through Velvet's mind…

Meanwhile, inside the ballroom, Albel went to sleep comfortably in his comforter, lightly snoring off…

_The next day…_

On a cliff overlooking an extremely wide, wide forest, the students were lined up, each one of them standing on a square shaped, iron made pod. From Albel's point of view, they look like launching pads. Well, that, or maybe he's been playing too much RPG's during his break times in Sector Seven.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest." Ozpin explains, standing in the direction where the students faced, particularly the forest below the cliffs. Various emotions were flying around the lined up students, ranging from excitement to nervousness, a common sight among freshmen in a cmbat school.

For the excited ones, Ruby stood out the most, as she lovingly caresses the blade of her scythe, Crescent Rose, like it was made of extremely fragile glass. For the nervous ones, Jaune was looking left and right, and would occasionally talk to Albel, who stood in a pad beside the blonde boy's own. And as for the ones that looked like they didn't care, Blake stood out, apparently having a look of a person that needed more sleep, and is about to murder anyone in a minute if they annoy her.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors about the assigning of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each one of you will be given teammates. Today." Glynda declares, not losing the stern, strict tone in her voice. On cue, the lined up students stood straight when she spoke, unwilling to spark her wrath early in the morning.

Meanwhile, Ozpin rearranges his glasses, and speaks as well, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time in Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone you can work well." At Ozpin's words, the students gave mixed reactions. Some were pretty happy with it, apparently having planned what to do all along. While those who appear to have not groaned in frustration. Like Ruby for example. But this is due to the fact that she dislikes having to work with another person than her sister. For her, working with strangers are really uncomfortable.

"That being said, the first person you'll make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the rest of the four years…"

As those words flew off Ozpin's mouth, the varied expressions on all the student's faces changed into shock.

"…Eye contact? Seriously? Is that how they form teams here? Don't they even consider the weapons and magic set ups? Is the headmaster on drugs?" Albel muttered to himself. At Fenmont, and at Sector Seven, an individual's weapon and magic specialties are critically considered when forming teams. Thus, the higher ups would always partner up or decide the formation of squads, based on their aforementioned specialties, allowing more effectiveness in the battlefield. For example, one team would be a 4 member team, consisting of two short range specialists, backed up by two long range specialists. This team is then sent for the front lines due to their offensive nature. Then, one team would then consists purely of long range magic artes specialists, who are then covered by the first team in the front lines, allowing the magic only groups to land devastating damage with their magic artes. And lastly, would be the medic team, which would consist of healing artes type specialists, who would stay on the back, healing both the two offensive units while basking in the safety they provide.

Needless to say, Albel is clearly surprised at how Beacon decides teams, even if it's only for four years. It's as if the whole organizing system is decided with a random number generator.

"After you're partnered up, make your way to the northern forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple along the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin declares is a steely voice, showing that what just went out of his mouth was not a joke, not in the slightest. Some students shuddered in slight fear, while the other did the same, but out of overwhelming excitement. Even as one who is quite experienced on the battlefield, Albel can't help but feel rather slightly disturbed at the sight of _freshman students _having a look of excited _bloodlusts _on their faces. Some kids are a little loose in the head in this place, it seems, even for a combat school. But either way, looks like this initiation thing won't be something that will bore him, if what Ozpin is implying is right.

Since those obstacles might be monsters, or, maybe even the other students who aren't going to be his partner. However, if it's the latter, the fight must and will end without anyone dying. They're just freshmen, after all.

"Uhm, sir, I have something to…"

However, before Jaune could finish his sentence, Ozpin suddenly speaks out, cutting off the nervous blonde. Apparently, he doesn't know what to do with the landing strategy he heard about earlier from the others. He asked Albel about it once, only for the silver haired boy to reply that 'it's about landing stylishly'. Jaune wasn't satisfied with his friend's definition, so he wanted to know the truth from the headmaster himself instead.

"Alright, now, take your positions." Ozpin says, cutting off Jaune from earlier. All the lined up students put on a stance, focusing their strength on the balance and toughness of their leg regions. Like Albel, for example, who puts his left foot forward, and his right foot backward, allowing it to take the pressure from being force into the air by the iron pad he's on. Looking at how the other students positioned themselves, there's a large chance that the iron pad that he's standing on right now is a launcher pad, which would later send him to the air. Not exactly the kind of air trip he wants, but there's no complaining now.

"Uh, sir…? I…got a question." Jaune tries to ask once more, in an urgent tone that says '_Oh crap, please tell me what am I supposed to do!_'. However, as if hearing nothing else from around him, Ozpin simply looks at the first student who was sent flying by the iron pod. Albel quickly channeled some mana onto his feet, causing it to glow slightly azure, after seeing that his guess was right: The iron pod were launching pods. Jaune simply had a look of despair as he saw the students launched into the air, with headcount coming near and nearer towards him.

In a few moments, it was now Albel's turn. The launching pad suddenly throws him diagonally upwards, straight towards the direction of the forests, known by the name of 'Emeral Forests'. As he flew through the air, Albel quickly channels mana around his body, improving his senses. This booster type mana application is known as '_Reinforcement Artes_', where the user enhances one, two, or all of his five senses by channeling small or large mana onto the different parts of their body, temporarily improving his or her overall performance in battle and daily life. Albel only knew the basics of this, as his focus on training went onto his main specialty: Close Quarter Combat Artes, A.K.A. CQC Artes, as well as Long Ranged Combat Artes, for his usage and learning of his Sword Summoner Paradigm, his fighting style for Long Ranged Combat Artes. However, unlike normal Arte users, the Soul Eater Paradigm and the mentioned Sword Summoner are something unique to Albel, as he appears to be the only one using them.

"Alright…Now, for a safe landing spot! An open area might be good…" Albel mutters looking at the scenery below as he was high in the air. However, all that he found was trees, trees everywhere, with no visible landing spots like a clearing, for example. Sighing, Albel decides that he has no choice, but to do a little murder of the wooden parts of mother nature…

…Or in short, just cut off the damn trees and make himself a safe landing spot.

"_Paradigm Switch: Sword Summoner!_" Albel roared, causing an azure glow to encompass his body. Right after that, a large portal opens far below Albel, facing in the direction which he was heading onto. A gigantic sword, as long and as wide as a large bus comes flying out of the said portal, going fast towards Albel's path, allowing the white haired swordsman to land on the giant weapon on his two feet.

"Hah!" Albel grunted as he landed on the sword, and flew on it around the skies. He then looks for the area with lesser trees, and finds one in the span of a minute. Albel then summons another portal, facing the direction of the targeted unfortunate trees…

"Now, fire! _Wind Slicer!_" Albel shouts, causing a large spinning a large, wide spinning bright green scythe that slices the air itself to come out of the portal with fast speed, strength, and precision, heading for the targeted set of trees. In a few seconds, the spinning scythe collides with the trees, cutting through the wood like an extremely hot knife through soft butter. The spinning scythe then comes back and forth, slicing the trees to smaller pieces, till nothing other than a flat, safe and compiled set of round logs were left, set together like a small stage with stairs, making it an ideal landing spot. Albel slows down the speed of the sword he's riding on, and as soon as he's above the set of round logs, the sword below him dissipates, allowing him to land safe on the chopped logs with no problem, other than apologizing to mother-nature for giving her an unnecessary shaving during springtime.

"Alright. Now, first things first. Explorations!" Albel says as he walks down the set of logs, while being cautious of his surroundings. Remembering Ozpins words, Albel knew that he wasn't alone with the others students in this forest. There's a seventy-five chance that monsters, or even B.O.W.s are around.

"…I guess my partner will appear sooner or later. For now, I'll explore around for a bit. And I might just find something useful. Like a way home, for example." Albel sighs as he walked, unsure if he will have the luck of finding a suitable partner for battle. In all admittance, he'd really like a long ranged fighter, or a magic user, as they are a good combo with close quarter specialists like him. Having two CQC specialists as a partner is like putting on a suicide poster on your shirts.

The air gave a cool caress towards Albel, reminding him of the peaceful place he once lived in with the woman who claimed to know his parents, a woman named Celica, the kind person who adopted him and raised him the way he is now. The home they lived on was smack dab in the middle of an isolated forest, filled to the brim with life, from safe animals to healthy fruits and vegetables that never seem to run out. A nature's paradise, if you will. Albel never had to worry about getting hungry there.

The cities of Magic were not to be underestimated, either. Kagutsuchi, the place which held the small University City of Fenmont, was beautiful in its own right. Due to the influence of magic, the trees and many other parts of the environment would glow beautifully with golden light every night, and at day, would shine with great beauty under the bright sun. A heavenly city, for those who lived there, and those who visited there. Their food supply was taken from the surrounding forests and farms, too, although the forest that Albel and Celica lived in was not one of them.

However, before he could drown in anymore nostalgia, Albel shook himself awake, and focused on what's before him. As he walked, a sudden chill in the air alerted him. It seems that someone…no, _something _has been watching him all this time. Sensing the presence, Albel decides to stop moseying around and went straight to the point.

"You sure have guts, hiding from me like that. How interesting. Show yourself!" Albel shouted, with killing intent rabidly dripping from his tone. However, no answer or monster came out. Unwilling to be the patient one, Albel takes out his sword in reverse grip, and puts on a battle stance.

"What's wrong? Too scared to take me on? Looks like you're the type who loves wasting people's breath and attention with all this hiding, you pathetic piece of crap! Don't go revealing your shitty presence if you aren't even ballsy enough to challenge me…at all!" Albel shouts, with a mocking tone embedded onto it. A loud roar answers him, along with many, many, many footsteps approaching. A grin appears on Albel's face as the footsteps came nearer and nearer. In a few seconds, a group of monster appeared from both behind Albel and in the direction in front of him. There are three large ones from the back, and four smaller versions of the same monster coming up from the front…

_Music Cue:__"Blinded by Light" from Final Fantasy XIII _

The monsters looked like bears with pure black fur. Several spikes are found protruding from their backs, and has a white, bone-like mask that covers their faces. The larger ones from behind Albel had more spikes on their backs, while the four smaller ones in front of him had lesser spikes, are look less muscular than their larger counterparts. These monsters are a class of grimm, known as 'Ursa'.

"…You animals look like something out of a horror RPG. Or maybe that's just me playing too much games lately. But either way…" Albel takes a deep breath as he focuses on the Ursi in front of him, while staying cautious on the ones at the back, "…All of you are going back to the earth. _Now. _Paradigm Switch_: Soul Eater!_" Albel roars as red colored light and lightning bolts encompass and dance around his body. Wasting no time, the four small ursi at the front charges forward, intent on tearing apart the silver haired swordsman. Albel notices this, and looking at the advantage in their numbers, it would be pretty dumb even for an animal to just charge blindly forward. However, despite expecting the same for the ones at the back side, the larger ursi simply started move sideways slowly, as if trying to be stealthy. A realization suddenly hits Albel's mind as he saw the weird behavior of the ursi…

"…_I see. Looking at how the four at the front would just blindly charge in despite their tactical advantage in numbers, this means that the larger three at the back meant for the smaller ones as a decoy, and while I'm dealing with them, the big ones would look for an opening in my attacks, and strike there._" Albel thought as he saw the actions of the enemies. Despite looking like a bunch of costumes for worshipping an evil cult, they're not way too shabby in the thinking department. Seeing this, Albel decides that a counter attack would be the most effective at this situation…

One of the small ursa leaps for an aerial attack from above, readying its claw as it descends towards Albel. The swordsman, just waits, till the said ursa was in range, and…

…Lands a quick, powerful horizontal slash at the ursa, slicing it in half. Another two quickly dashes from Albel's two sides, attempting a pincer attack from the two sides, as well as the front as one more ursa was also charging at Albel from there. Albel quickly puts on a charging stance, particularly looking like preparing a thrusting attack…

"_Gale Maw!_" Albel roared as he charges forward in high speed as his sword absorbed mana from the air, allowing him to dodge the two ursi from the sides and land a fast counterattack to the ursa at the front, in the form of a thrust using a sword filled with the wind's power and speed. The attack tears through the ursa, allowing Albel to slice through the head to the back, leaving the two ursi from earlier open to an attack as they crashed into each other, causing them to lose their balance.

"Got you! _Wave Smasher!_" Albel shouts once more, as his sword now takes mana from the ground, showing a bright golden glow. He switches his grip this time, as he now uses the blunt side of his sword to strike the ursi, and dashes forward to get them in range. As soon as he reached them, Albel swings his sword in a horizontal direction. With the power of the earth combined with Albel's own strength, the single swing tears apart the ursi's body in half, brutally removing the upper body from the lower regions with the sound of flesh being smashed and ripped apart.

However, before he could celebrate any victory, the three larger ursi suddenly jumped out from the sides, commencing their planned surprise attack which they timed at the moment Albel finished his swing, leaving little to no moment to dodge. However, Albel quickly has his sword gather mana from the air once more, causing it to glow bright green…

"You idiots are the ones who fell for it, now that you can't change your direction in mid-air! _Bloody Twister!_" Albel roared as he spun his body, performing a horizontal spinning attack in the process. This is followed by the quick emergence of a human sized tornado around Albel as he kept spinning. The force of the spinning blades of wind around him quickly tore apart the three large ursi, who, thanks to the force and momentum caused by their own jump, only caused them to be drawn even more and get sliced to pieces in a few spins…

With the many organs and body parts falling around him without a single monster left whole, which signals his victory, Albel stops spinning, and looks around, trying to sense anymore presence, but to no avail. It seems that those monsters are the only ones who happened to be in the same area as he does…

_-Music Fades-_

"…I guess I could proceed forward…for now. Paradigm: off."

With that, a faint white light emanates from Albel as he walks deeper into the depths of Emerald Forests, eager to meet his combat partner…whoever may that person be…

* * *

A certain bunny girl scratched her head in frustration. How in the world is she gonna be able to find a faunus partner if the rule for partnering is by eye contact?! Did the headmaster read too much shoujo manga about love at first sight or something like that? How in the name of all magical do humans even come up with such…surprising methods? Do they like surprises that much? What if she caught a human bully as her partner instead of a faunus? Velvet sighed at the worst possibilities…

"_Sigh…_Why does this happen to me? I just wanted to become a hunter and earn more money for everyone at home…Geez, I really should have just taken college and become a cook. But then again, I'm this far, so…I can't back down now! Not with all the training I went through! Hmph!" Velvet, now in her combat gear, reignites her fighting spirit.

Her combat gear consists of a white, form-fitting top, with a collar lined with black, and a pink ribbon tied neatly below. She also appears to wear a dark-brown, long-sleeved jacket that comes down around her chest over the shirt. Her leggings consist of two parts: a pair of dark-brown shorts and a pair of black form-fitting leggings that come to just below her hips.

She wears golden spaulders and vambraces, as well as a similar belt. The tops of her leggings are edged with a similar band, and her heel and toe are likewise protected.

"Well…I guess I should look for a combat partner first, before going to the north. Sneaking around should help me avoid getting accidental eye contact, too, especially with a human…" Velvet muttered. Walking softly on the ground, and using her stronger senses, Velvet placed caution on each step. However, at this rate, even a slug would've won an arms race, and she still would've found a combat partner. Even after the slug will get married and have kids, Velvet still will have no partner. But even so, Velvet kept up her careful steps, and…

"KYAH! Owwiee…"

…Tripped onto something hard.

"OH…Why you…!" With an extremely red, embarrassed face, Velvet kicked really hard, multiple times, against the small, silver colored, triangular shaped stone. She kept on kicking, and kicking, and kicking, and…

…A load roar blasted somewhere near her. Looking around carefully, Velvet heared something move heavily, and noticed something about the 'stone' she just kicked brutally…and her eyes widened.

"It…it…IT'S MOVING!"

Velvet's eyes started tearing up, as she realized what she just awakened, and kicked so hard, as something gigantic, scaly, and has wings rose up in front of her. Apparently the poor little 'stone' she used as stress relief…

…was the tip of a dragon's tail. A silver dragon's tail.

"Oh…OH CRAP! KYYYAAAAHHH!" Velvet screamed as she ran, jumped, and dodged, in a speed that could break the record of the world's fastest runners, as she now has an even bigger goal in life…

…That is, to escape alive from the grasp of the silver dragon, who, is now pissed after getting a little poke to the tail. In the form of multiple, powerful kicks of an embarrassed bunny girl. Apparently, the dragon's eyes are brightly glowing red, and is obviously out for blood. Rabbit blood, in particular.

As she ran and jumped, Velvet didn't care about how fast she will go, believing that there will be no obstacles in her escape. And thus, without hesitation and a heart full of hope, Velvet ran, and jumped, at the almost limit of her faunus body. However, Knowing lady luck and her whims, it seems that misfortune can be pretty random at times in appearance.

And now…

Velvet has one. In the form of a certain silver haired swordsman that's currently walking in her path way. Due to the speed she accumulated from all the earlier running, Velvet could not make enough time for a full stop, much to her horror. And now, that horror will become true…

"WAAAAAAAAAATCH OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUTTTTT!" Velvet screamed at the top of her lungs at the silver haired person she's about to collide onto…

* * *

"Ahh…so peaceful. I could walk around here all day…it really reminds me of my home forest. All this green, lush environment, this wind, this quiet…it's so calming. Well, except the monsters. They're assho-"

"WAAAAAAAAAATCH OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUTTTTT!"

"Huh?"

_***CRASH***_

Albel felt someone crash onto him, tackling him past through several trees, much to his surprise and pain. It felt like…

…a person?

Albel opens his eyes, and finds a pale Velvet in his grasp. She appears crying, actually.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm the hell down! Quit the waterworks and tell me, what happened?!" Albel says, only for Velvet to point behind her…

…And causing Albel to see the incoming dragon, flying high in the air with its angry, glowing red eyes, as if it just took a kick in the nads and is looking for revenge on the perpetrator. Albel sweat dropped as he asked for more info on Velvet…

"…And why is that thing chasing you? Is it your pet or something?"

"Of course not! It was just an accident! I…" Velvet had to catch her breath for a bit, having almost lost all air in her after all that sprinting anf hopping, "…I kicked it! On the tail! On accident!"

"…Are you serious?"

However, before Albel could get his question answered, the dragon hovers, particularly, towards the direction where he and Velvet crashed. It appears to have found them, after sniffing the air for a good minute, and probably traced them through scent. Albel gave a sigh as he watched the gigantic monstrosity head towards them…

"You're running from an oversized lizard?" Albel states with a tone that drips with dull surprise. However, Velvet quickly retorts with a shout, surprising Albel.

"Well, it is an oversized lizard…THAT CAN FREAKING BREATH FIRE AND FLY! RUN!"

Without hesitation, Velvet stands up, grabs Albel, and drags him as she runs, surprising Albel even more. Albel himself gets on his two feet, breaks away from Velvet's hold, and stays on his place, before facing towards the large dragon from afar up in the air. Velvet saw this, and with shocked eyes, screams out.

"What are you doing?! Do you want to die or something?!"

"If I did, I wouldn't be facing it head-on, you know. And besides, I've fought things bigger and scarier than this flying lizard. And I'm a little bored. You can run if you want. At least, you know how to be careful, and that's good instincts and tactics." Albel declares with confidence, showing no signs if fear, or doubt. His eyes were hard as steel, and from what Velvet can guess, his resolve must be really tough. She never has seen anyone this brave…or stupid, for that matter.

"Are you serious?! Are you really that stupid?!" Velvet spat out, voicing her fear for the human in front of her. However, the said human only looked back at her with a smile, and spoke in a calm voice.

"Yes, I am. Now, run while you can. Judging by your earlier reactions, you don't seem confident you can take on this lizard, so…leave it to me! You'd better live on and make your family proud, or something!" Albel cheerfully states, as if fighting a dragon was something he does every day in the world. Velvet really couldn't grasp if he really is stupid, or really brave, putting his life on the line like that. And why is he telling her to run away? Is he…

…stalling time for her?

Velvet questioned herself. Why would a human, like the one in front of her, would be willing to put himself at risk for someone he barely met? Especially for a faunus, like her? Is he just trying to be cool? No, that doesn't seem to be the case. No one would go as far as to get themselves in great danger just to impress someone, especially of the different species. So, why? Velvet couldn't understand, so she decided to ask the person himself instead…

"Why…are you helping me? Even though I'm a faunus, and you're a human? Why are you…going this far?"

"…It's because I want to. I don't give two shits about if you're human, or if you're faunus. Because if you're in a tight situation, I will make sure that I will pull you out of it. Everyone deserves help and to be happy. That's why I helped you. You wanted to live through this, right? Well, let me help you with that. Just get the hell outta here, and my job is done." Albel declares, with his slight smile not fading. Velvet, however, felt like…her chest was about to explode. It's the first time that, she met someone, who would risk themselves for her, without asking for exchange, without any malice. It's the first time she met someone who…

…wanted her to live, and to be happy...

"Alright! Now…Time for some good exercise after a long vacation! Well, short, actually. And…woah, what is it now?" Albel says in surprise, as Velvet stood beside him, with eyes that looked ready for combat, and it looks like she won't be backing down anytime soon, either.

"It's because…I…I just can't leave you alone, either! And besides, we had eye contact, so that means I'm your combat partner now, and that also means…" Taking a deep breath, and gathering her courage once again, Velvet speaks in a clear, brave voice that fully expressed her feelings, "…I will not leave your side in a fight like this. Never. We're partners, and that means we must cover each other's back, right? I entrust my back to you, so please…Trust me too!"

Albel felt touched. Different from how she was earlier, the Velvet that's in front of him right now is totally different. Her eyes are really burning with conviction, cementing the fact that she truly won't run away anytime soon. And from what she just said, it appears that she finally strengthened her resolve too, which was pretty fast in Albel's opinion. Normally, freshmen like Velvet wouldn't be really ballsy enough to take on something they think they can't take on. But Velvet…looks like she's take on anyone anytime soon, with that strong, unflinching look on her right now. Albel just sighed in relief.

"Well then…You said your name yesterday was Velvet, right? So…Let's do this, partner!"

"And yours is Albel, right? Okay! I got your back on this one! Trust me, Albel!"

The two then readied themselves, as the dragon now have gotten them on sight, and is preparing itself for battle as well, after sensing the combined hostility from both the silver haired human and the bunny faunus…

* * *

Ozpin stared wide eyed in surprise at the scroll in his hands. As a long time headmaster of a school that allows both humans and faunus to learn, he had seen so many things that happen between the two races, and they were never pretty. For Ozpin back then, it seems that unity between human and faunus is still very, very far from reach. However, what he just witnessed from his scroll made him take back that earlier conclusion…

"Wow, I admit, that was a heartwarming scene…But are we really leaving them against that dragon? It's not even a grimm, and it's supposed to be something the seniors are to face in their final exams." Glynda states her concern over what she just saw. Sure, she approves of camaraderie among races, but that doesn't mean they should die doing that. Ozpin, however, did not change his expressionless, steely expression, and just replied to Glynda in a calm manner.

"Don't worry, Glynda. Miss Scarlatina might be a freshman with primary training experiences like the other normal freshmen, but Mister Bloodedge here is a battle veteran, and an actual squad leader of a monster extermination force, as shown in the I.D. he showed me in his interrogation. We both saw his capabilities in the recorded battle in the city as well, did we not? Not to mention that previous monster he just fought can use magic…and is something we Hunters haven't even encountered yet. I'm sure that Miss Scarlatina's life is in good hands."

Glynda made a face palm followed by a sigh, before resuming her work of monitoring other students. Meanwhile, Ozpin continued his watch of a few students that caught his eye. Appearing on his screen are Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Weiss, Albel, and the mysterious student with the black ribbon, whose name is shown in the scroll as 'Blake Belladonna'.

"The children this year…are quite the amazing harvest. Looks like things won't be so dull this time around." Ozpin muttered to himself.

* * *

_**Whew, and that's that! I'm really, really sorry about the cliffhanger. My schedule is truly tight these days, since I'm already on the graduating course. Things are really difficult right now. But don't worry, because I'll do my best in updating this story, as well as the others.**_

_**And also, some notes about some things in this story:**_

_**Spyrite Technology – A homage to the Spyrite Technology from the Tales of Xillia series.**_

_**Mana – A form of magical energy, that runs in all living things. Even the world itself has mana, as well as its parts.**_

_**Albel's powers, namely his artes and even his (fake) BlazBlue don't run on seithr, nor does it consume anything else and turn them into seithr. His skills and (Fake)BlazBlue all run on Mana, the magical energy that runs in his body, as well as the environment, as shown in the fight in this chapter. His weapon is a Spyrite version of the original Artificial Casualty Weapons, which means it also runs on mana. This is the reason why he doesn't do much damage against the dimensional based armor of the SS-Class B.O.W. from the very first chapter.**_

_**Velvvet, in this story, has no ties with any member of CFVY. She's really just a freshman at Beacon this time around, just like Ruby and the others.**_

_**And also, Velvet's position in CFVY in this story has been replaced by a certain lunar bunny, whose power is making people go nuts by manipulating wavelengths. Can you guess who? **_**^_^**

_**An advanced congratulations to those who know the answer to the question above.**_

_**Till next time!**_


	4. The Silver Dragon

The sound of heavy, loud footsteps graced the halls of Sector Seven's Main Research division, as a young woman runs towards the direction of the scientist's meeting room.

The said young woman has a long, smooth red hair tied in a ponytail, with her bangs beautifully parted around her face, complementing its healthy, ivory color and her pair of bright green eyes. She wears a skin tight black body suit, which is covered in an angelic themed, crimson colored armor at different places, namely the chests, shoulders, gauntlets at her hands, her hips, knees, and feet. Four wing-like shields appears to float behind her, emanating red colored energy from its lower parts.

A look of worry and concern graced the red-haired young woman's face as she entered the door of the meeting room, arriving to what seemed to be Kokonoe sending off someone familiar to another door. As soon as Kokonoe turned around and saw who just arrived, she had a look that says '_Here we go again_'.

"Professor Kokonoe…I am here to-" However, before the red-headed girl could finish, Kokonoe cuts her off, her tone rather unamused and annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, you're here to ask what the hell happened to your surrogate little bro and nag at me for being a shitty boss with a shitty safety measure procedure for my employees. Yeah, I've heard that for about years now. But for could YOU listen to what I have to say first, Miss _Hotaru Kisaragi_?"

The eyes of the red-haired girl, named Hotaru, sharpened as she heard the words fly out of Kokonoe's mouth. From the latter's experience, the former obviously doesn't really trust whatever Kokonoe will explain, having seen the operations she would assign Albel's squad on, and the dangers they represent. There wasn't a single piece of document that didn't fall under Class S and SS level of danger and risks they would warn of.

"…Speak. And it better be the truth this time…Professor." Hotaru says, with venom and distrust dripping from her tone, down to the last syllable of each of her words. Kokonoe gave a face palm and a heavy sigh of annoyance, before taking out a controller from out of nowhere and pointing it on a nearby screen. In a split second, a scene of a black hole, about the size of a small house, is floating, and appears to be restrained by the multiple magical glyphs and as well as spyrite machinations positioned right outside the glyphs.

"Before you ask, that black hole in the middle of the screen is known to be a Dimensional Anomaly Sphere. These things has started popping out around 15 years ago…Around the same time as-"

"Around the same time as Shinra Electronics was found out of their B.O.W. experiments, am I right?" Hotaru cuts of Kokonoe, which caused the latter to snarl rather unpleasantly.

"Let me do the speaking damn it! -_Sigh_\- Okay, time to explain what these things are…or at least, what we know about them for now…" Kokonoe made a deep breath as to calm herself, as she really hated being interrupted, and this Kisaragi chick knows that for some reason. There was a small pause before she continued, "Even after all the research from after it was discovered, we only discovered one thing…Which is that these holes are a one-way pathway of some sorts, leading…" Kokonoe re-arranges her glasses coolly as she spoke, "…To another dimension, or in other words, another world. Of course, we here at Sector Seven tried to uncover whatever the hell we can find from that place, but…all the drones and people we sent never came back from those damned spheres. I've lost three precious employees from that thing, the third one having just disappeared a day ago…" Kokonoe explained, a tint of regret dripped from her tone at the last sentence.

"What?! The third one…You can't be saying…it was…" Hotaru had a pale face as she realized who the third one was. There was enough evidence, from what Tager had told her from the message he sent, "It was Albel?!"

Kokonoe only gave a nod to confirm Hotaru's suspicions. Fear dropped into Hotaru's chest like a massive anchor with jagged edges as she digested the information she just discovered. The meeting room went cold and silent for a few seconds…

"The coordinates…" Hotaru mumbled something under her breath, which caused Kokonoe to tilt her head one the right side slightly before asking.

"The what now?"

"The coordinates of the black hole…Please tell them to me." Hotaru finally asked aloud, causing Kokonoe to palm her face as she processed what just came out of the red head's mouth. Going to the black hole entails little to no chance of coming back, and she just explained that. Why can't the idiot understand such things? Kokonoe asked herself that as she prepares to make an argument against Hotaru.

However, as the cat-eared scientist makes eye contact with the red headed girl, she was slightly surprised. What she saw in those eyes weren't desperation, but instead, what reflected were flames. Flames of determination that Kokonoe once saw in the very eyes of Hotaru's mother, the woman named Tsubaki Yayoi, or as she is called by everyone now, Tsubaki Kisaragi. Apparently, from what Kokonoe experienced with her, once Tsubaki had that look, she will not stop till she finally achieves what she has set out to do.

Kokonoe made another annoyed sigh. SO many idiots around the planet these days. And all of them are really annoying. From her own father, to Ragna the Bloodedge, his brother Jin Kisaragi, to Hakumen of the Six Heroes, to Tsubaki Yayoi…Ah, screw that, to freaking everyone else on this damn planet, Kokonoe thought.

"What a pain in the ass…" Kokonoe commented, taking a look at the determined Hotaru in front of her. This is gonna be one long talk…with the latter's parents, that is.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the midst of a dark, mist filled forest, Hakumen trudged forward, seemingly intent on searching for the source of a rumor. A rumor, which says that new, undiscovered creatures are sighted prowling around the premises of the forests he is currently wandering around in. Unlike all the monsters and B.O.W.'s he has encountered after all these years, these 'new' monsters to have few similar trait that distinguishes them from the commonly encountered ones: They have white and red colored masks that cover their faces, as if they were exoskeletons for protection. Moreover, they are said to have the color of darkness itself.

With such traits, it won't be too hard to catch sight of them, Hakumen thought. The other thing he will need to think about would be how to gauge the strength of the abomination, without finishing it off first. That way, he would be able to see what he might be up against, and become prepared for them in case the said monsters go for a large assault of sorts.

The mists became thicker as Hakumen proceeded to the heart of the forest. It was up to the point where he could only see about the ground that's 10 inches away from the tip of his toes. The cold air also became as twice as cold, and fierce in pushing away the legendary hero. However, As if not even feeling the wind's strong push, Hakumen pushed onward, all the while with slow, but steady steps. Eventually, he reached the core of the forest itself, where the mist is now non-existent, showing Hakumen the splendour of the multiple, gigantic, almost ancient trees and flower filled meadows that surround a large, crystal clear lake…

…That also had a one of the Dimensional Anomaly Spheres, or D.A.S., floating right in the middle of it.

"That sphere of darkness…It is somehow…different from the ones I cut down so far…" Hakumen commented as he observed the waves of the water that jumped from below the D.A.S. If it was the usual one, the water would be sucked upwards towards the black hole, along with the dimension around it. The one Hakumen is observing in the lake, however, has the waters flow away from below it, as if pushing away the dimension around it, breathing everything out instead of sucking them in.

However, before Hakumen could investigate any further, multiple beings jumped out of the Dimensional Anomaly Sphere, and lands on the ground just a few steps away from in front of Hakumen himself…

_-Music Cue: "The Song of the Sword Dancer" from Witcher 3: Wild Hunt-_

A large, unfamiliar monster stood defiantly in front of the legendary hero. It resembles the traditional, bipedal forms of lycanthropes, more commonly known as werewolves. It stands on its hind legs, albeit with a slouch, and is extremely muscular. It has pitch-black fur and red eyes. On its face is a bone-like mask with red markings, and it has bone spikes protruding from its arms, back, and knees. The monster's fingers and toes are tipped with long, sharp, white claws.

It appears to have protrusions made of bone along its back and arms. A bloodlust filled glow encompasses its eyes as they stare hungrily unto Hakumen himself.

Without warning, the monster charges at Hakumen, claws on the ready at its sides, attempting to slice the hero from both left and right with a strong horizontal swipe. However, right before they could reach within even 10 inches away from Hakumen's skin, the legendary hero quickly delivers a swift counter with two consequent vertical swings at the monster's claws, slicing them in half. Without hesitation, Hakumen then follows up with two horizontal swings, one aimed at the monster's legs to prevent it from dodging and escaping, and the other slash aimed at the monster's neck, to finish it off.

As soon as they were sliced, the monster's remains quickly faded to black dust that faded into thin air, leaving no evidence of its existence behind. Hakumen simply stared at the last of the black colored dust as it dispersed into nothingness.

In a few moments, three more of the same type of monster approach Hakumen, circling around him carefully. They appear to be making a plan of assault, trying to see an opening in the legendary hero's stance. With an unimpressed sigh, Hakumen hardens his stance even harder, preparing to charge forward.

"Opportunity does not come with cowardice. It comes with valor!" Hakumen roars as he dashes forward, attempting to perform a heavy downward slash onto one of the masked monsters. In turn, the targeted monster dodges the blow, as another charges behind Hakumen right after.

However, Hakumen has seen ahead of this, and in fact wanted it to happen, thus the reason why he charged forward in the first place; to leave himself deliberately open and lure enemies in. This is a tactic that the legendary hero uses when he decides to control the enemy's time of attack, as it what allows him to perfectly land all of his counter strikes.

Hakumen quickly averts the ambush with a swift horizontal swing, quickly cleaving the attacking monster in half. Another jumps in, only to be sliced down in half as well with a descending strike from the legendary hero. Only one is left, with its red eyes trembling, as if feeling doubt of its own survival against the hero before it. Attacking will result in death. Those words rang in the monster's instincts.

But before the monster could decide, Hakumen has already raised his sword and charged, and lands a well-aimed, powerful downward slash. cleaving it in half, leaving its remains to fade into black dust.

In mere moments, a loud roar emanates from the Dimensional Anomaly Sphere above the lake.

Looking up, Hakumen sees a large, unidentified monster, with a completely different appearance from those he fought just now.

The said monster appears to be a mixture of many different monsters and animals. Its head appears to be that of an eagle, it's body that of a horse attached with four pairs of an eagle's wings, the tails consisting of many, many creatures which can be best described as long necked, alligator snapping turtles.

In contrast to the creatures from earlier, Hakumen quickly recognized the calibre of the monster. It is, without the shadow of a doubt, a B.O.W., another monstrous product of Shinra Electric Corps. Hakumen sighed with tranquil fury as he prepares his sword, and enters a battle stance.

An enemy with the ability of flight. In this case, projectiles, especially homing types, are the most suitable, as the winged monster will just most likely fly off in retreat should it survive Hakumen's first strike.

"I have but a single strike. Should I miss, it will escape and most likely cause harm to more lives. This…is a gambit." Hakumen muttered as he makes sure to never take his eyes of the winged B.O.W.

The monster sees the legendary hero, and locks on to him. For the monster, fresh meat for dinner has appeared so conveniently, as its hunger was already as its breaking point. The monster flies upward, before finally descending down and gliding at breakneck speed towards Hakumen.

The legendary hero prepares for a swing as the monster was about the range of 20 meters, intending to split the monster with a single counter attack. In that very moment…

"Got you! _Corona Upper!_" A high pitched, squirrely voice interrupts Hakumen's focus, before seeing a brown flash running towards the winged B.O.W., followed by a sick crunch of bones breaking to pieces, as the winged monster was given a very heavily powered uppercut, sending it flying to the air spinning and unconscious.

The unknown assailant, who attacked the monster, quickly jumps upwards towards her victim.

"You're down and out! _Meteor Dive!_" The assailant roars as she lands an even heavier dunk punch to the winged monster, completely bashing its skull to pieces and its body brutally sent crashing to the ground, resulting in a crater.

From just the way the move was executed, and the voice of the assailant, Hakumen quickly recognized the person before him…

_-Music Fades-_

"To think that I did not sense you sneaking behind me for that attack of yours…Your stealth has improved, Makoto Nanaya."

The assailant hears Hakumen's words, before taking off the raincoat that has been covering herself.

What is revealed is a woman in her late twenties, with bright orange eyes, brown squirrel ears, and healthy brown hair, tied in a neat ponytail. She wears a green, sleeveless leather top with a revealing cleavage, and a pair of leather short shorts of the same color as the leather top. On her hands she wears a pair of adamantite-reinforced gauntlets, and on her legs are worn a pair of black, high cut leather boots. From her behinds is a large, fluffy brown squirrel tail, with black stripes that run along the tail.

This person is Makoto Nanaya, Head of Sector Seven's Intellligence Division, and Rapid Fisted Squirrel Lady, whose ability to sniff information is as fast as the amount of punches her fists can land within the span of a single minute.

"Ah, sorry about that, Mister Hakumen! I…couldn't resist planting my fist on that monster in the very tempting moment, you see…I'm really sorry!" Makoto apologizes, bowing her head multiple times to the legendary hero. Hakumen, however, quickly shakes his head.

"You have no need to apologize. Without your sudden assistance, the battle would've made more of an annoyance. But enough about that. You certainly know what you came here for, do you not?" Hakumen asks the Squirrel Beastkin, who nods before setting her sights onto the Dimensional Anomaly Sphere floating above in the middle of the lake.

"Yes, I do. It's…about that odd case." Makoto points to the D.A.S., before continuing to speak, "As I've seen earlier with your fight, instead of sucking in everything around it, it spits out something instead. And those things, if we base on our earlier experiences with those other little black holes, are most likely…"

"…From that other world, you believe?" Hakumen cuts in. Makoto answers his question with a nod, confirming Hakumen's suspiscions. If that is the case, then…

"…I will have no choice but to stay here. It seems that those man-made monstrosities and some other…unknown creatures are jumping right out of this anomaly sphere, with no warnings nor signs. You best go back to the grimalkin and report what you've found. Hurry!" Hakumen prompts the squirrel girl, as the former sees another legion of monsters come out of the D.A.S. Meanwhile, seeing this, Makoto wordlessly nods, and proceeds to run away, with the intent of heading straight to the headquarters of Sector Seven to directly report all that she has just witnessed to Kokonoe, including the odd class anomaly sphere, the unknown creatures that Hakumen fought earlier, and as well as the winged B.O.W. that both Makoto and Hakumen just took down.

Cold air brushes through Makoto as she ran towards the nearby hills near the forest she is currently in. Why in the world did she have to ditch her raincoat, of all times, she thought. And she had to wear her normal attire too, which obviously provided little to no protection against cold, at all. Moreover, thunder has began to cry out in the night skies, a sign of an incoming storm. Makoto's jaw dropped at the turn of events, and begins to complain.

"Oh, come on! Is my luck really that bad?! It's as if I have F-ranked luck or something. Somebody up there must really hate me!" Makoto began to comically grow some veins on her forehead as she hurries up to find shelter, only for her to suddenly fall down a hole that was covered with leaves.

"Oh my GOOOOOD!" Makoto's screams echoed throughout the rather deep tunnel as she slides down deeper and deeper into it. If possible, she really would punch the first person she will see after this, Makoto thought. Not only there was a hole, it is a deep one too? Makoto could only grunt in frustration as she kept sliding down with great force and complain about her recent stroke of luck, like when she went for groceries and the eggs inside were crushed to pieces when she accidentally hit the grocery bags with the door of her house, or when she checked the fridge and found out that it was already broken for a long time, thanks to the enormous amount of rotten food inside, or when she went to clear out the rotten foods and ended up magically stepping on and crushing her credit card which was supposed to be a few more steps away from the fridge.

And now, on the way to finally to complete her job for today, she slips up and gets an unexpected detour.

"Ugh, why can't I catch a break these days?! AAAAAGGGHHH!" Makoto screamed as she made a decision. Screw the detours. Gathering energy with her both hands, she stops her slide by forcefully planting her hands on the sides of the tunnel. After this, she begins to climb up, slowly, steadily, and angrily.

"I'd climb this tunnel the whole day if I wanted to! Bring it on, universe!"

The moment Makoto said that, a cow comes sliding down from above, appearing to have fallen in the same hole as the squirrel girl…

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Were the words Makoto could spurt out as the cow comes in falling…fast.

* * *

_**-**__Music Cue: "You Will Know Our Names" from Xenoblade Chronicles__**-**_

A certain area of the Emerald Forests trembles with fear as a roaring, silver scaled dragon is flying above it, before hovering down and breathes out a large, homing ball of fire towards a clearing with someone in it.

Albel, with his feet charged with reinforcement magic, quickly rolls to the side as he avoids the large ball of fire from the silver dragon. Flames spread out the forests as the wind from the dragon's flapping wings enlarged them further. In return, Albel quickly initiates Paradigm Shift to Sword Summoner, and summons multiple portals above and aimed at the dragon, who's currently aiming to fly upward. In a split second, multiple crimson colored swords fired out of the portals, flying at high speed towards the silver dragon. However, the winged monster quickly maneuvers through the rain of swords, skilfully dodging each and every single one with great accuracy, much to Albel's irritation.

"So it's got the speed and maneuverability of a fighter jet plane? This is just great!" Albel complains as he once again initiates Paradigm Switch, this time with Soul Eater. Black and red flame-like energy covers his feet as he runs after the direction that the dragon has run towards to.

The dragon, seeing that its enemy below, changes its direction of flight, land on the ground, and faces Albel. The latter looks surprised, before putting on a battle stance and shouting, "Bring it, you ugly reptile!"

In response, the dragon lunges forward, which Albel dodges with a run and a roll to the left side. His weapon, _Muramasa, _then glows with green light as he prepares a counter attack.

"_Gale Maw!_" Albel roars as he performs a lunging thrust with his sword. Empowered by the wind's mana, Albel lands the attack swiftly before the silver dragon can even react…

…Only for the attack to bounce off.

The dragon then counters with a slam of its tail, which Albel dodges again with a forward roll, before charging his feet with a reinforcement arte and running as fast as he can away from the dragon.

"Tch, looks like not only it can nullify normal physical attacks, as even elementally charged physical attacks are ignored, unless it's lightning element I'll use. If anything, My attacks won't slice or pierce its skin, only shake its insides with the impact. That would be effective if I was smacking the head…I guess I will have to keep annoying it till Velvet lands the spell!" Albel mutters as he dodges a breathed fireball from the dragon with another dodge roll, before continuing to sprint away. Looks like he can't do anything than distract the winged monster with Sword Summoner…

The silver dragon, seeing its prey run, takes to the air and follows Albel…

Meanwhile, hidden within the darkest shade of the tall trees, is Velvet, chanting a powerful wind-class spell, as noted by the green colored glyphs that encircle and fly around her. As she continued the magic's chanting code, Velvet remembers the basics of the plan that she and Albel discussed earlier. With that talk also came additional knowledge about this world's dragons, courtesy of Velvet.

Dragons are winged creatures, whose movements rely on flight, and is most likely going to abuse it against enemies who are forced to permanently stationed onto the ground. Its attacks would include powerful cutting swings with its claws, both from its forelegs and hind legs, a powerful swing attack from the tail, and of course, the titular breathing of fire. Its scales are also exceedingly tough, but not as hard as diamonds, and in fact, has elemental weaknesses. In case of the Silver Dragon, lightning elemental attacks and lightning spells are the most reliable. And by a stroke of good luck, Velvet made sure to reveal to Albel that her combat class is a combat mage.

However, at the same time, dragons are also intelligent, clever creatures. Having fought humanity in Remnant for a long time, Dragons have recognized certain body languages that would tell them of danger, like a human casting magic for example. The glyphs and the surge of aura around them is the sign. Unlike the soulless Grimm, Dragons are creatures with souls, and are, in fact, mostly protected by the aura that they use to reinforce their scales, which in turn, will determine their aura and elemental affinity and weakness.

As humans have elemental affinity and weaknesses over magic, so does the dragons. Based on the color of their skins, each dragon has a weakness. Like for example, a red dragon is weak against ice. Blue dragons are weak against fire. Green dragons are soft against earthen spells and earth based physical attacks. Yellow or brown dragons are weak against wind attacks. Black Dragons are strong against all physical attacks, but can be blasted to high heaven with any of the four basic elements and their magic. Silver dragons can resist physical damage, and all four basic magic elements, and requires a combined elemental attack or spell to be struck down, like lightning.

A bell rings inside Velvet's head, a sign of a creature of magic origin is approaching. Ah, the dragon is approaching, she thought. It must have sensed the surge of aura she is making from her preparation of her wind class spell, and the dragon must have recognized it as danger, despite not knowing what element it was. For the magical creature, the sign of a spell being readied in and of itself is danger, and must be stopped at all costs.

"It's here! _Hear my plea, oh Amun, Divine God of the Wind, and wreak havoc upon those who wish me harm! __**Turbulence!**_" Velvet shouts as she finishes the magic chant, causing a large, green colored wind elemental glyph to appear on the direction where the dragon is heading towards Velvet herself. From the glyph then bursts out a large, powerful tornado, changing the flow of the wind around the area. This causes the dragon to lose balance mid-flight due to the wind's direction being suddenly changed, making it suddenly drop to the ground and rolling over, before standing back up on its leg, with a cautious look in its eyes. Its attention is locked onto Velvet in particular, recognizing her use of magic as a greater danger.

It was thanks to this, that the dragon did not sense the appearance of two gigantic portals above, both of which are aimed towards its wings…

"_Calamity Blade!_" Albel shouts as he calls down two gigantic swords from the portals, which then lands and locks two of the dragon's wings onto the ground, although the blades were not able to pierce through them due to the dragon's extreme resistance to physical damage. However, Albel had already made sure to take care of that in his discussed plan…

"Velvet, now! While I'm still able to hold it down!" Albel shouted to his partner the signal to start chanting the lightning spell. Sparks of lightning and glyphs of the said element began dancing around Velvet as her aura surges and becomes stronger, before converting itself into the energy to be used in the spell.

"_By my call of hope and words of faith, please lend me thy blade and cut down my despair, for there is none that can't be cut down by your lightning! Hear my plea and strike, Susanoo! __**Thunder Blade!**_" Velvet shouts as she finishes the chant, summoning a large glyph of lightning above the silver dragon. A large sword, made of lightning, shoots out of the glyph, approaching the dragon on fast speed. However, mere moments before the sword could strike, the silver dragon forces its way out of Albel's summoned swords, and with a single, powerful push, the magical creature succeeded.

It was, however, not without cost, as the only reason that the dragon was able to to slip through the attack was because it deliberately tore off its wings using the weight of Albel's swords, leaving a stump that's spurting of blood on where its wings are supposed to be. Velvet looked like she was about to puke as she saw the result of the dragon's dodge, whilst Albel had a face that can't decide between being happy his plan's purpose worked or palm his face for not foreseeing the crazy dodge and causing the finishing strike to miss.

"Well, we took the wings down, so I guess Plan A worked…partly. Now all that's left is to finish it off!" Albel says as he jumps from one tree branch to another, heading for the dragon's direction. As he jumped and ran, Albel began to think of the possible usable strategies against his wounded target. First, the silver dragon is now basically like a komodo dragon, a creature that can sprint forward briefly, before taking a short, brief break and continuing, just like the recovery frames for characters in video games. However, when concerning a wounded dragon, the said recovery frame would be smaller, and is much more ferocity in continuing its attacks, something common for any wounded living animal, no matter how intelligent. However, this would mean that it would run out of stamina a lot faster, due to the excessive bleeding and its mentioned ferocity.

Albel has three options. Option A is to finish the dragon at the height of its attacks through the utilization of a dodge, counter and kill tactic. Option B would be to lead it around and wait for it to run out of stamina before it tires out, and finish the dragon at its weakest. Option C is for him to activate Blazblue. The reason for this is because of the fact that the dragon's biological composition mostly rely on its aura, or in Albel's terms, Remnant's version of mana. And Albel's Blazblue is specialized is devouring both mana and life-force, which is useful when fighting enemies with healing factors, either magical or biological, and as well as against enemies with magically dependent biological composition, like the silver dragon, whose scales are entirely aura-reinforced. Remove the aura, and their basically the same as crocodile scales. Devour the life-force, and it's basically a dying lizard.

"I do not have the intention of screwing shit up. And taking into consideration that scaly bastard's tenacity, there is obviously no kill like overkill in this case. I know I'll be disobeying Professor Kokonoe's order here, but I've got no choice! I'm basically taking on a SS Class Rogue Magical Beast here. I will really need to go against it with the Azure's power!" Albel mutters as he climbs up the top of a tree to get a better view of the enemy, and indeed sees the wounded silver dragon from afar. However, it also appears to be chasing someone…

A look of fear crosses Albel's face as he realized the situation…

Velvet…is being chased. By a wounded dragon, no less. With his feet once again burning with black colored mana as he charges it with reinforcement magic, Albel jumps straight from the top of the tree to the ground, and runs as fast as he can, towards the direction of where the dragon is running to as well.

He can't fail. Not this time.

Albel swore, he will not let any harm come to Velvet, even if he loses a limb or two. For her sake, he will give it everything he's got, and save her life.

_Meanwhile, with Velvet…_

"Oh my GOD! Why me?!" Velvet screams as she jumps off another tree, which is then torn off by the wounded silver dragon. The bunny faunus thought that, should they be able to tear off the wings, things would be a lot easier. But alas, it was not. The fact that she's running for her life and that there's a wounded dragon that runs as fast as a pissed off bull on steroids and energy drinks totally contradicts what Velvet thought would happen.

The dragon roars as its throat starts glowing, a sign of a big misfortune incoming for Velvet. In other words, it's about to breath fire. And that breath of fire pretty much fires fast. Really fast. And Velvet is currently on a tree top. The surrounding pretty much says no to survival, as it is full of trees and grass. There seems to be no area of water or even just a cave. Even if Velvet can dodge the flames for a second, the suffocation caused by a burning environment will rob her of stamina faster than ice melting down.

"Not good. Not good!" Velvet mutters as her mind scrambles of a way out of her current predicament, her panicking heartbeat not helping matters…

_At the same time, around the area with Velvet and the dragon…_

Walking through a clearing in the forest are two people, each of them also an upcoming hunter and huntress in training at Beacon Academy, as evidenced by the number of dead grimm currently fading behind them.

First is a girl with short stature, comparable to an elementary school student. She has a pair of red eyes, light blue shoulder-length hair with choppy bangs, and two short braids secured with a yellow and black hairpiece, and as well as ivory white skin. She wears a black colored, sleeveless leather jacket, with a collared sleeveless white shirt and black tie inside, and a black colored mini-skirt. On her hands she wears a pair of shooting gloves, while on her legs she wears a pair of black tights and battle boots. Her current facial expression is of someone who lacked sleep for a few days.

The other one is a well-built young man, with black eyes, indigo hair, and a fair skin tone. His main outfit that consists of a white long sleeved buttoned coat that looks similar to a military styled clothing, black pants, and black leather shoes with black gloves. A stern, focused look is pasted on his face.

"Heeey, Akatsuki, are we there yet? I really, really, wanna sleep now…" The blue-haired girl complained, while lazily walking after her partner. Meanwhile,her partner, the black haired boy she called Akatsuki, simply gave a sigh.

"Now, now, Saya, I'm sure that we are indeed half-way to getting at the northern part of the forest, where our goal awaits us. We should just focus on accomplishing that part of the mission for now." Akatsuki says in a monotone voice to his partner, the girl named Saya Sasamiya.

As they walked, the two expected no problems on the way, as they have defeated all the nearby gathered Grimm, and thus, meaning no new enemies on the way to the northern parts.

"Oh my GOD! Why me?!"

…However, that expectation was pretty much shattered when they saw a screaming, jumping bunny faunus on the trees above them, and then, followed by the landing of a wingless dragon on the right side of the road, and is starting to prepare to breath fire. Quickly reacting without wasting a breath, Akatsuki quickly makes a command.

"A magical class creature?! Saya, the Helneklaum, now!"

Saya jumped back and ran afar quite fast, takes out a blue colored disc from her pocket, and presses the entirety of it with her right palm. The disc then explodes in a blue colored light, revealing her weapon, which appears to be a gigantic gun that's five times her size, resembling a modern laser cannon more than a gun. A shining, light blue orb is in place in the front of the trigger. This weapon is the Type 38 Aura Grenade Launcher Helneklaum, an aura type heavy weapon specially customized for Saya's use and aura type. Despite its gigantic size and probable weight, Saya wielded it over her shoulders with little to no difficulty.

"Charging aura…" Saya hisses as light blue colored energy starts flying out of her body, and flies straight into the orb of her Helneklaum, causing more and more aura to surge around her. From the tip of the launcher appears a triangular shaped, light blue colored glyph. From its three tips came out Saya's absorbed aura, forming a ball of explosive aura type ammunition, which slowly but steadily increases in size.

Meanwhile, bolts of lightning powered by aura dances around Akatsuki's body as he jumps high above the dragon's closed mouth. Landing atop of it, a lot more of lightning dances around Akatsuki's hands before he proceeds to hold the dragon's mouth closed. The lightning bolts from Akatsuki's body quickly spread to the entirety of the dragon's head, temporarily paralyzing it. But for a few seconds.

"Saya, can you fire it now?!" Akatsuki asks in urgency to his partner, who nods.

"I'm just about to!" Saya says as her Helneklaum starts to roar with the surge of aura. With the aura ammunition now as large as five times her body, she proceeds to pull the large trigger with her right hand.

"_Burst._" Saya says as she pulls the trigger, causing the explsive type aura ammunition to be fire off, with it flying towards towards the dragon's glowing throat at breakneck speed. As the shot approaches, Akatsuki jumps swiftly to the left side, getting off the dragon.

In a split second, an ear deafening explosion shakes the entirety of the forest.

_-Music Fades-_

Velvet, who has been running all this time, hears the explosion. Stopping and looking back, surprise overtakes her as she sees the dragon down on its back, with smoke rising out of its mouth as its breath exploded haphazardly inside, causing internal damage. However, in a few seconds, it still went back up, now more angered from all the damage it took.

Seeing this, Velvet prepared to run, but not before hearing Albel's voice from below.

"Hey, Velvet! You alright there?!"

Hearing that, Velvet proceeds to jump down, and lands right before Albel. Starting to feel a little safe, tears started to appear at Velvet's eyes. Albel realized what happened, and was about to say something…when Velvet started sobbing and pounding on his chest.

"Uwaaaah! Idiot! Idiot, idiot idiot idiot!" Velvet keeps shouting as she kept on punching Albel, who can only do nothing but receive it. Velvet just experienced…something life threatening after all. Even battlefield veterans can be shaken by what they experience on the battlefield. How much more would a newbie get? Even Albel, during his first mission five years ago, was no exception. No warrior starts out brave and stone-hearted.

Albel proceeded to gently pat the head of the crying bunny Faunus.

"There, there. We're safe now. Someone else did a number on that lizard, and it's a lot more tired now, so you should be okay." Albel says as he kept on patting the crying Velvet's head, who didn't mind the action. However, before anything else could happen, a voice snaps the two out of their state…

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but, the dragon you left behind wants some shonen action, not a shoujo-manga moment. And it's looking for your girlfriend, too." Saya says in a monotone, slightly annoyed voice, causing Velvet and Albel to jump away from each other with red faces out of embarrassment. Meanwhile, unfazed by the scene, Akatsuki approaches the two.

"Forgive our rudeness. My name is Akatsuki. The blue haired girl over there is my combat partner, Saya Sasamiya. Now, can you tell us your names, friend?" Akatsuki says as he bows slightly before asking the question. Albel manages to snap out of it in time to answer normally, while Velvet was still looking away with a red face on.

Albel takes a deep breath as he prepares to introduce himself and his partner.

"My name is Albel Bloodedge. The bunny faunus over there is my combat partner, Velvet Scarlatina. Now, what happened with the dragon?" Albel says, now completely focused, and calm. Akatsuki gives a nod before answering.

"Me and my partner managed to knock it down on its back, albeit only for a few seconds. It appears that it has become a lot more fierce as a result. Now that I think about it…" Akatsuki proceeds to look Albel in the eye as he continued to speak, "Were you the one who managed to cut off his wings?"

"Well…part of it, anyway. You see…" Albel begins to explain the turn of events that led to the dragon's wings being torn off to Akatsuki, who listened carefully.

Meanwhile, Saya had found some amusement…by touching Velvet's ears. The latter, in turn, finds it tickling and starts running off, resulting in a chase with Saya, whose now having a hard time thanks to making small steps because of her short stature, whilst the long legged bunny faunus is pretty much leaping while running. Despite this, Saya did not give up, and continued chasing a now comically scared Velvet. Both of them kept running in circles.

"I see. That's what happened. Taking this into consideration, do you have a plan to finish this battle? Or will you run away instead?" Akatsuki asks with a face of seriousness, enough to make Albel twitch an eyebrow out of surprise. A thought crosses Albel's mind as he begins to analyse Akatsuki. Unlike Saya and Velvet, and the many others whom Albel encountered before the Beacon Initiation Test, Akatsuki…did _not _show anything that says '_I'm a newbie_'. No, it was as if…Albel was looking at a person who went through hell and back. Being one who's been in the battlefield for five years ever since he was twelve, Albel have seen many faces. Faces of both veterans and greenhorns. Akatsuki's cold eyes…screams the former. To Albel, there's a large chance that Akatsuki might be someone whose greatly combat experienced, and might be actually older than he looks, like a military officer sent to undercover as a student.

"I do have a plan. However…it requires help. Something that you can do. But of course, considering if you're willing to trust me." Albel replies, now sporting the same cold look and tone, somewhat surprising Akatsuki. The latter had a slight look of realization, before replying in a sharp tone.

"Let's hear it then. This plan of yours."

Taking a deep breath, Albel explains about the Dragon's state, before proceeding with the main part of the plan, "If you remember what I just said, the silver dragon's ferocity will cause it run out of stamina too quickly, weakening it and allowing us to finish it off, as my partner her is a multi-elemental mage. But at the same time, it will also take quite some time, as the scaly bastard have this ridiculous tenacity to pain and his stamina is quite a lot. For the second problem, I have the ability suited to avert it, and that's where the plan comes in. You see, this ability of mine requires the target to be at least 100 meters from me, and that I'd take a few seconds to set it up. And thus, I will need cover and distractions while I start up the ability. That's where you and Saya come in."

"Wait, before you continue…Could you tell me what this ability of yours can do?" Akatsuki says, cutting off Albel, who didn't seem to mind. Takin another deep breath, Albel begins to explain the effects of BlazBlue, albeit not planning to reveal it by name.

"My ability, when activated…Allows me to send a shockwave that will nullify any magical process occurring around me. In short, I can outright nullify any usage of magic and…aura of chosen targets within the shock wave's maximum range, which is 100 meters. Moreover, if they continue to stay within that range, I can absorb their mana…I mean, aura, and life-force by a great amount in a few seconds. If we can get that wounded silver dragon within range of my activated ability, I can quickly drain him of the aura that it uses to reinforce its scales, and by absorbing its life-force, I can weaken it internally greatly. That, in turn, will allow me, you and Saya to do a number on it, before Velvet can land the finishing lightning elemental spell." Albel says, with slight confidence in his voice and a lot of it in his plan.

Akatsuki pondered on the plan for a few seconds, before finally making a sigh and replying.

"Very well, considering that it might have marked my scent and Saya's, it also falls unto us that we must finish it off. However, Albel…" Akatsuki says before his eyes turned cold once again, looking Albel in the eye. With a serious tone of voice, Akatsuki continues, "…This fight…It's not the first time you went against an enemy of this level, did you not?"

Giving a sigh, and giving Akatsuki the same cold pair of eyes, Albel replies, with a serious tone, "I could say the same to you, Akatsuki. Now, let's discuss the remainder of the plan to the other two, shall we?"

With that, Albel and Akatsuki proceeded to call for their respective partners, who were tired from all the chasing they just did. Hiding under the shade of a nearby large tree, Albel and Akatsuki discussed the methods of the plan. Saya gave an annoyed sigh, saying something along the lines of more trouble on the way, while Velvet re-composed herself, and prepared herself mentally for another confrontation with the silver dragon.

_-30 Minutes later-_

The earth shakes as the silver dragon angrily keeps on searching for its prey. Using the scent left by their aura, the dragon furiously sniffs each step, unwilling to let them go the moment it sees them. The dragon's focus was quite adamant…

_-Music Cue: "Rising Hope" English Cover Version by AmaLee-_

…That it was caught off-guard when an explosion type aura ammunition lands a painful hit onto its right side. Ignoring the pain, the silver dragon forces itself to switch its body's frontal position to the right side, aiming to kill Saya, whose now charging up another shot with her aura.

"Hoo, boy, here we go." Saya says with slight excitement as the battle commences, causing her to charge up even more aura as her heartbeat now even beats faster and harder.

The moment the dragon manages to fully turn itself to the right, Akatsuki jumps from a nearby tree-top, runs on the ground all the way to the tail of the dragon. After reaching his destination, Akatsuki jumps onto the tail, and runs all the way to the area above the upper tip of the dragon's spine. Sensing this, the dragon furiously shakes its body, forcing Akatsuki to hold onto one of the Spikes onto its back. Before anymore shaking could continue, a dark blue light shines from a direction about 150 meters away from the dragon…

"_Bring forth a cold disaster, and freeze all! __**Diamond Dust!**_" Velvet declares the name of the Arcane Level Aura Magic, summoning multiple, human-sized Glyphs around the silver dragon. The glyphs quickly proceeded to breath out an extremely cold blizzard, causing the movements of the dragon to weaken and slow down, as it was still a cold-blooded creature, and cold-blooded creatures slow down against cold temperatures.

Without wasting time, Saya fires another round of explosive type aura ammunition, this time hitting the head of the silver dragon, thanks to it fully facing her direction earlier. The resulting attack and impact of explosion caused the dragon to feel a slight dizziness, losing momentum for a few moments. Seeing this, Akatsuki charges up his body with his aura, taking the form of lightning once more, focuses them on his right fist, and…

"Now…to fully stop you from moving!" Akatsuki shouts as he lands a powerful, slamming punch straight to the area of the dragon's upper spine, causing it strong paralysis, even for a few seconds. Now, it had indeed stopped moving, albeit temporarily…

Albel, who has snuck into the fight unnoticed and had been watching within 80 meters, now makes his move, initiating a Paradigm Switch into Sword Summoner, "Alright! Now time to nail that lizard to the ground!"

Four large portals are summoned above each of the dragon's legs, from which a large broadsword shoots out. Even if they couldn't pierce the skin, the weight of the swords are able to nail the silver dragon to the ground. After this, Albel begins to activate his BlazeBlue.

"_**Restriction 666 released!**_" A surge of power runs throughout Albel's body, with the shells on his gloves opening and releasing an azure colored light, "_**Dimensional Interference Forcefield, deployed!**_" Two azure-colored insignias appear, one above Albel, and one below his feet, "_**Accessing Xblaze: Chromatus!**_" White colored bolts of lightning dance around Albel's body, "_**BlazBlue, Activate!**_" The two insignias from earlier then explodes into azure-colored, flame-like energy than wildly dances and wraps around Albel's body.

"Alright, everyone! Now, please, run away as fast as possible! _Executing Magic Nullifying Field: __**Imagine Breaker!**_" Albel thrusts his sword onto the ground, causing an invisible shockwave that raced towards the dragon's stuck body. Hearing Albel's words, Akatsuki and Saya runs for the hills, barely escaping the shockwave from Albel's Imagine Breaker Field Activation.

As soon as the dragon got caught in the shockwave, white colored energy is blown off from its scales. Right after, the silver scales lose color, and began disintegrating, leaving an unmentionable, unrecognizable reptile with no scale. Moreover, red-colored orbs fly off in great numbers from the dragon's body, and straight to Albel's own.

"Now, Velvet! Start casting!" Albel shouted, which the bunny faunus heard.

Velvet starts to concentrate, causing multiple bolts and glyphs to dance around Velvet's body. With her aura surging at its strongest, Velvet begins to chant, her heartbeat now beating even faster at the excitement and the adrenaline of the fight, "_By my call of hope and words of faith, please lend me thy blade and cut down my despair, for there is none that can't be cut down by your lightning! Hear my plea and strike, Susanoo! __**Thunder Blade!**_" Velvet shouts as she finishes the chant, summoning a large glyph of lightning above the silver dragon. A large sword, made of lightning, shoots out of the glyph, approaching the dragon on lightning speed, this time sure to strike the target, and finally pulverize it.

The blade of lightning reaches the dragon, who tried to shake of the swords on its legs, to no avail, thanks to its stamina being devoured by Albel's BlazBlue from earlier.

In mere seconds, the dragon is obliterated to dust by the blade of lightning, leaving nothing…

…but four shining crimson gems, which landed on the ground.

_-Music Fades-_

"Is it…is it finally over?" Saya asks, appearing quite tired. Akatsuki himself feels quite hungry after all that fight. Seeing nothing left of the dragon, he makes a sigh.

"I guess it is. The enemy has been eliminated." Akatsuki says, with relief evident in his voice. Finally, after all that effort, the monster is finally down, Akatsuki thought. All that's left is to head for the area on the northern ends of the forest, for the initiation.

"BlazBlue, deactivating." Albel declares, causing the surge of azure-colored energy around his body to disappear, leaving him a little tired. Despite absorbing a lot of life from the dragon's soul, it was not enough to compensate for what Albel consumed for the entire fight. Before he could contemplate on what to do next, however…

"Albeeeel! Did you see that?!" Velvet shouts as she runs and leaps towards him, before tackling him lightly and continuing to shout excitedly, "We did it! We won against that dragon! I…Ican't believe it! I didn't even had to use my semblance! I…I am not dreaming, right?!"

"Heh, 'course not! Good job back there!" Albel says before turning his attention back to where the dragon once stood, and found the four crimson gems, still shining brightly. His curiosity piqued, Albel proceeds to tell Velvet.

"Say, why don't we and the others check out what the dragon dropped over there? Might be worth something…" Albel says, prompting Velvet to give an excited nod, being curious as to what the gems are for herself. Also, seeing Akatsuki and Saya nearby, Albel also decides to call them, and before gesturing from afar that they should check the gems from the dragon.

Arriving at the area, Albel proceeds to pick up to of the gems, and proceeded to pass the other one to Velvet. Saya does the same, and passes one to Akatsuki. At the same time, the four checked out the crimson gems, only to find nothing but an emblem of a dragon's head on it's surface.

"…I'm guessing that we should head for the northern areas if we wanna make use of these things." Saya comments, before pocketing her crimson gem. The other three does the same.

"Wait, how can you tell?" Velvet asks, with her head tilted.

With a proud look on her face, and taking a deep breath, Saya proceeds to speak with pride, "It's just my gamer's instinct!" After that, Saya simply gestures to Akatsuki to start moving, before yawning and muttering something along the lines of wanting to sleep all day after this.

"Well, I guess we could try going there and finish things up, right Velvet?" Albel asks his partner, who gave a nod. All these fights they had…they're really tired. IF they could finish things by heading up there, then…they'd better hurry, before some more stronger monsters find them.

"Alright, let's head over to the north, Albel! Let's finish this!" Velvet cheerfully states as she begins…hopping towards the declared direction. Followed by a sneaking Saya, who really wants some of that bunny ears on Velvet's head. In a few seconds, the former is being chased by the latter.

"…I'm so tired right now. I'd better hurry and finish this. I really want my sleep…" Albel comments as he follows after Velvet and Saya. Meanwhile, Akatsuki could only silently follow, as he has barely energy left himself, and his stomach is growling a lot louder that a lion with a sore throat. Not wanting the others to hear it, he slowly follows the other three from behind.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a cliff somewhere near Emerald Forest…

Ozpin sighs with relief as he saw the results of the fight against the dragon, whilst Glynda had a doubtful look. Unable to contain her suspicions, Glynda proceeds to grill Ozpin directly with a question.

"Professor, are you sure you did NOT send multiple military veterans in undercover for this year's initiation?" Glynda asks with a face that's a mix of doubtful, and a little angry. In truth, she already knows about Albel's situation, but, however, this Akatsuki person and his partner are raising questions…

"Other than Albel, I don't remember anyone else…And as for Mister Akatsuki and Miss Sasamiya, I do not have much info on them either. All that I know is that they are from Atlas." Ozpin declares, his eyes and attention never leaving his scroll, which shows a video feed of Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake taking on a bird-like grimm, and Jaune, a girl name Pyrrah Nikos, a young man named Lie Ren, and his partner, Nora Valkyrie. For a group of supposedly new students, they really are doing quite great. Now, only if they can survive their current predicament, Ozpin thought.

Meanwhile, Glynda still eyed Ozpin with suspicion, unable to shake the feeling that the headmaster is hiding something. Maybe…she just might shake those answers out of him later, with a no-sugar coffee. It'd better not be a collaboration between Ozpin and a certain James Ironwood, Glynda thought with veins popping all over her forehead.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the Grave Marker of Bases…

A Dimensional Anomaly Sphere floats ever so silently, as it keeps on sucking in any object or living thing that is not rooted onto the ground. Now even the dusts of sand or even the dimensions around them could hold on.

Looking at it 10 meters away is Celica Mercury, with a worried look on her face as she remembers what that black hole in front of her has done to so many people, especially those that she is very close with, like Ragna the Bloodedge, his wife, Nu, and their son, whom Celica raised as her own after the parents were sucked in by the D.A.S.

If Celica heard right, she remembered Kokonoe that the black hole indeed leads to a different, unknown world. Which means that, if Celica were to jump into that D.A.S., she won't really die, but instead be transported into that other world Kokonoe spoke of. With that knowledge, Celica…makes a decision.

She will not stay behind this time.

For her, finding Albel, is what takes priority right now. And if she finds him…Then the two of them just might be able to look for Ragna and Nu in that other world. And besides, she has done all that she can for the world she is currently stepping on. Maybe, in that other world on the other side of the D.A.S., there must be something that she can still do.

Taking a deep breath, Celica prepares herself, "Ok. Wait for me, Albel, Ragna, and Nu! I'll find all of you, I promise!" Celica declares as she positions herself…

And runs towards the D.A.S., and jumps towards it. The black hole quickly sucks her in, leaving none of her in Earth…

…And throwing her straight to the world of Remnant.

Meanwhile, watching from the shadows is Hotaru Kisaragi, who was shocked at what she just witnessed. However, that shock quickly dissipates as she remembers what she came to the Grave Marker of Bases for in the first place: To look for the D.A.S. that sucked in Albel, her former squad member, apprentice, and most importantly, her first trusted friend and self-proclaimed little brother.

"I can't turn back now. I have to go in there, and look for my little bro along with Miss Celica! Not only my little bro is in danger in there…Miss Celica's sense of direction certainly will make sure that they'll never meet! I have to hurry and follow her!" Hotaru says, before approaching the D.A.S.

An eerie feeling emanates from just looking at it, Hotaru thought. However, inside the place on the other side of that black hole are two of her important friends, and one of them is the one she wants to catch up to.

Without wasting time, Hotaro lunges forward, and jumps towards the D.A.S., willing to go through an unknown world, all for the sake of her loved ones…

* * *

_**Phew! Finally done!**_

_**Please leave a comment on what you think of this chapter! It helps!**_

_**Some trivias and notes for this chapter:**_

_**Akatsuki is a character from the games Akatsuki Blitzkampf and Under Night In-Birth. His abilities are mostly martial arts and lightning based in those games, just like the ones shown in this chapter.**_

_**Saya Sasamiya is a character from the Light Novel and Anime named Gakusen Toshi Asterisk. Her combat abilities involve her using gigantic and small gun based weaponry that fire laser and energy based ammunitions, like the ones shown in this chapter. She has ten main weapons, and the Helneklaum shown in this chapter is an aura based version of the original one in the anime/light novel.**_

_**Also, to avoid confusion, while it is indeed "fake", Albel's version of the Blazblue still retains some of the original's functions, with some additional new ones, like the Imagine Breaker Field/Shockwave. The parameters of his version of BlazBlue is a lot lower compared to Ragna at his weakest, however. The reason why is going to be explained at the future chapters.**_


End file.
